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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395253">Don't Ever Change</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pebbles12345/pseuds/pebbles12345'>pebbles12345</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel &amp; Sam Winchester Friendship, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Dean Winchester Has Internalized Homophobia, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, No Smut, Past and Present Mash Up, Post-Season/Series 15, Rated M for Language and Situations, References to Croatoan/Endverse (Supernatural), Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 01:59:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,872</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pebbles12345/pseuds/pebbles12345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of flying back to the street corner where Castiel was waiting for Dean, the two arrive in the bunker in the year 2021. Dean is shaken up from just experiencing the Croatian future Zachariah promised, and his angelic companion is baffled as to what went wrong, because he is an excellent flyer. </p>
<p>Dean and a newly human Castiel Winchester have defeated Chuck and are enjoying semi-retirement with Sam. The recently married couple help out other hunters on hunts by providing research and fake field offices. They have practically mastered domesticity, even having a garden. Sam enjoys living with his brother and brother-in-law and especially enjoys the semi-regular visits from Eileen and their collective child, Jack. </p>
<p>All of their lives are disrupted by the random appearance of younger versions of Cas and Dean. Versions that have not yet made many of the mistakes the trio regret. Will they take the opportunity to change the past, and possibly alter the future? Or will they let things unfold as they would have naturally, ensuring they have the same semi-happy ending? </p>
<p>Most importantly, which Dean gets to drive Baby?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Destiel Fan Survey Favs Collection</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Great Timing Cas, but What the Hell?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I hope you enjoy this story!! I should be updating it at least once a week. Thank you so, so much for choosing to read this tale! </p>
<p>I hope the shift from Now Dean and Now Cas is not too confusing. If it is hard to determine who is who please let me know and I will attempt to make it clearer. I would love to hear from y'all regarding the story in any way! </p>
<p>I do not own Supernatural, or any other TV Shows, books, movies, songs, websites, and/or apps referenced in this work.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean shirked back from Zachariah, just sure that this was the time that fucker was seriously gonna mess him up, like he wasn’t already messed up enough from that Croatian nightmare where Cas was a hippie, orgy loving, pill popping junkie, and his brother was fucking Lucifer.</p>
<p>And then there was a ‘whoosh’ and then there was a kitchen? What the fuck?</p>
<p>He looked at his Angel companion. “Pretty great timing Cas, but where the fuck are we?”</p>
<p>The angel’s blue eyes narrowed in confusion as he surveyed his surroundings.</p>
<p>“I do not know, Dean. I intended to fly us to the street I was waiting for you to wake up on, not arrive in some type of humans’ food closet?”</p>
<p>“Food closet?” Dean huffed out a laugh as he regarded his friend. “Don’t ever change, man.”</p>
<p>Cas looked at him fondly before walking around, looking for a clue. The hunter soon followed suit.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Cas nuzzled further into his husband’s neck, eliciting a chuckle from Dean.</p>
<p>“Couldn’t sleep, Babe?”</p>
<p>“Hum… Didn’t want to.”</p>
<p>Dean brought him further into his arms, holding the ex-angel as close to his chest as possible.</p>
<p>“Why not? Hum?” He kissed the top of the shorter man’s head.</p>
<p>“Afraid I won’t wake up here.”</p>
<p>Dean laughed. “We’re married dumbass, you’re stuck with me.”</p>
<p>“Nowhere else I’d rather be stuck.”</p>
<p>They both laughed at the absurdity of the statement.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Sam was making an Excel spreadsheet listing all the active hunters and their home bases so that cases can be more effectively distributed.</p>
<p>From his position near the telescope, he could see a trench coat brush past the table in the war room, and his brother’s old jacket following behind. He wondered if those two were role-playing and then shirked at the thought, returning to his spreadsheet once again.</p>
<p>He began to wonder if he should make another spreadsheet listing all the fake official phone numbers he and his brother were now in charge of operating. They let Cas be the FBI field office one day and that went spectacularly wrong. He was impressed by his brother’s gentleness when explaining to his husband that he was much better at providing spells to those in need. Dean turned toward him then and made a ‘what the fuck’ expression that made Sam smile.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“This appears to be some sort of underground bunker.”</p>
<p>“No shit, Sherlock. Why are we here?”</p>
<p>Cas almost growled at his charge. “I do not know, Dean, nor do I know how to express to you in other terms that I do not know. Would you like for me to try Enochian? Or one of the other thousands of languages that I know?”</p>
<p>“No need to be a smartass, Cas.”</p>
<p>The angel quickly put his hand over the hunter’s mouth, pushing and pining him to a wall. Dean soon understood why when an older version of himself emerged from a room.</p>
<p>Dean’s eyes grew wide and Cas made sure he wouldn’t speak before he released his hold.</p>
<p>Dean mouthed to the angel, “What the fuck?”</p>
<p>Cas shrugged, noncommittal, but curiosity piqued.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“Dude.” Sam looked at his brother wrapped in his dead-man’s robe and pajama pants.</p>
<p>“What?” Dean looked at him questioningly. “I’m just getting a snack, Sammy, geez. I know we’re all human now and Cas can’t fix my clogged arteries or whatever, but it’s fruit, okay. Well, it’s that fruit pizza Cas made, but can it. I want it.”</p>
<p>Sam stood up, suddenly on full alert, which prompted his brother to do the same.</p>
<p>“Sammy?”</p>
<p>“Someone’s in the bunker, Dean.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“DEAN!!”</p>
<p>Dean and Sam run towards Dean and Cas’s room full throttle, weapons in hand.</p>
<p>Cas is holding an angel blade to <em>himself</em>? And a younger version of himself is pointing a gun towards his Cas. Dean wastes no time in pointing his firearm at <em>his</em> head. What the fuck.</p>
<p>“Drop it, or I’ll blow your fucking brains all over the floor.”</p>
<p>“Well, tell the low-budget version of Cas – t – fucking – iel to stash the blade.”</p>
<p>Dean made eye contact with his husband and nodded. Cas lowered the blade to his side and walked over to where Sam and Dean were, never taking his eyes off the imposing pair.</p>
<p>Castiel narrows his eyes at his older self and tilts his head.</p>
<p>“You are me, but not now me.”</p>
<p>Both Deans had a flashback of something they would rather not remember. Dean protectively puts his arm around Cas’s waist, drawing him closer. He sees Sam smile slightly out of the corner of his eye. He also sees the younger closeted version of himself go three shades paler. Why that gives him such satisfaction is beyond him.</p>
<p>“And you are also, human?”</p>
<p>Okay, now Dean had to admit the head tilt was so fucking adorable, and old school barn Cas was one of the highlights of his life, even all those years ago.</p>
<p>“I am, yes. I, or rather, we have had quite an interesting decade.” He smiles, the expression holding sentiments Dean couldn’t quite read, and he pulls him even closer.</p>
<p>“Yeah, whatever, human, what the fuck is that?” Younger Dean gestures between Now Dean and Cas.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, ‘that’?”</p>
<p>Sam sighed, “Dean. Cut him some slack, you know how you were back then. I’m guessing, what, 2010?”</p>
<p>Younger Dean nods, “Yeah, thereabouts. Cas had just swooped in and got me from Zachariah.”</p>
<p>Now Dean nods. “You just had the trip to Croat-ville.”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Dean cleared his throat, trying to stifle all the emotions down as far as they would go.</p>
<p>Dean noticed his husband staring at the younger version of himself. “Cas?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine, Dean, I just… I forgot how it was, the wings.”</p>
<p>Castiel regards his future self even more intensely. “How long have we been human?”</p>
<p>Cas looks down, “A year.” He meets his own gaze once again.</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>Cas smiles slightly and leans into Dean’s side. “You know why.”</p>
<p>With a curt nod, the angel averts his gaze and focuses on Sam. “Sam, you are well.”</p>
<p>Sam almost forgot about this Castiel, the awkward Cas who helped them and gave everything for Dean, but who could also be a judgmental prick.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’re all good now, Cas. All of us.”</p>
<p>The angel nodded, “I see that. Aside from my becoming human, you all do seem to possess a certain type of happiness.”</p>
<p>“Always a way with words, Cas.” Now Dean shakes his head fondly while his husband narrows his eyes at him.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s great, but I’m gonna ask again, what the fuck is going on with that?”</p>
<p>“Sammy?” Now Dean grabs his husband’s hand and escorts them to the kitchen, knowing a pot of coffee is going to be necessary.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“WE’RE FUCKING WHAT?!”</p>
<p>Dean heard a less deep version of his own voice yell throughout the bunker.</p>
<p>“Ah.” Dean mutters, sipping from his favorite mug that Cas bought him that says, ‘World’s best husband’. “He’s taking that better than I thought.”</p>
<p>Cas chuckled.</p>
<p>Sam stumbled into the kitchen and sunk down beside his bother-in-law. Cas got up and made him a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>“Thanks, Cas.”</p>
<p>“Of course, Sam.”</p>
<p>Castiel waltzed in, looking around, then sat beside Dean. Cas straightened up and leaned across the table towards his husband, a possessive stance that was not lost on his husband, who smiled slyly.</p>
<p>“Dean said he needed some space.”</p>
<p>Dean nodded. “Yup, seems about right. So, how’d you two get here anyway?”</p>
<p>“What I find most interesting is that the three of you do not seem to be too disrupted by this course of events.”</p>
<p>“As I said earlier, we have had an interesting decade.”</p>
<p>Castiel folds his hands on top of the table and looks towards a speck of dust floating around a light. “This place is heavily warded. I am surprised I was able to land here.”</p>
<p>Dean smiled, sharing a knowing look with his husband. “You were written in.”</p>
<p>Sam snorts out a type of laugh and looks at the angel across from him. “So, how are we going to get you and younger Dean back?”</p>
<p>“Sam, I do not know what brought me here.” His eyes narrow in thought, then regards Now Dean with renewed vigor. “Perhaps this is my Father.”</p>
<p>Now Dean, Cas, and Sam all stare at the angel wide-eyed.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna call bullshit on that one, Cas. Sorry, man.”</p>
<p>Cas decided he did not like the younger version of himself getting his husband’s nickname for <em>him</em>.</p>
<p>“I understand your lack of faith, Dean, but what if this is a type of second chance? Do you have regrets?”</p>
<p>The three of them all caught each other’s eyes and then looked down at their coffees.</p>
<p>“Look, Cas, you’re gonna go through a lot of shit with your Dean and your Sam, and you man, whew, you uh, you make some really shitty decisions… but, we end up here, which is exactly where we’re all supposed to be.”</p>
<p>“Dean.”</p>
<p>The eldest hunter looks at his husband with surprise.</p>
<p>“Perhaps younger me has a point.”</p>
<p>“Babe, no, we can’t do this, we can’t think about shit like this. These two incredibly handsome sons-of-bitches have to go back to where they came from.”</p>
<p>“Dean.”</p>
<p>Dean rolled his eyes. He hated when his husband and brother ganged up on him.</p>
<p>“What, Sam?”</p>
<p>“Think about it, Dean. Ellen, Jo, Bobby? I’m not saying they’ll be alive in this timeline, for all we know these two could create another type of alternate universe or something, but don’t they deserve a chance in Castiel’s world?”</p>
<p>Dean looked down at his hands. “We’re happy Sammy. You, me, Cas, the kid, Eileen when she graces us with her presence. We have a fucking rooftop garden, Sam. Doing that what might have been shit never works out. We know that.” He points a finger at his husband’s chest. “You know that.”</p>
<p>Castiel looks at Dean. “I think we would like a chance to make something, right?” He inclines his head towards his older, human self. “I think we would like to ask for your help, and I am assuming you know what that means?”</p>
<p>Cas was not used to being on the receiving end of Angel’s power, and frankly he was a bit annoyed by it.</p>
<p>Dean reached across the table and grabs his husband’s hand. “Cas, we’re okay. I love you.”</p>
<p>“And I you. But, Dean, all those people, all those angels?”</p>
<p>Castiel is about to touch two fingers to Dean’s forehead to retrieve what he believes are pertinent memories, but Dean recoils quickly. “Woah dude, you’re hot as fuck, but he’s the only Cas allowed to touch me, angel powers or no. Capisce?”</p>
<p>The angel lowered his head and nodded. “I capisce.”</p>
<p>“Well, it looks like we’ll have some time since feathers here doesn’t know how to get him and younger me back home. We’ll all three talk it over and figure it out Babe, just like we always do, okay?’</p>
<p>Cas nodded, smiling at his husband.  </p>
<p>“So, lets get back to bed and work on a game plan in the morning.”</p>
<p>Dean got all three of their mugs and put them in the sink. Cas and Sam stood up, thinking the angel would follow.</p>
<p>“I do not require sleep. I can…”</p>
<p>“No!” All three of them shout at the same time.</p>
<p>Castiel looks taken aback and almost… frightened.</p>
<p>“I apologize.”</p>
<p>Cas sighs and looks at his younger self. “I don’t have all the angel knowledge I used to, and some of the Enochian volumes here need annotating. Would you mind helping us out, annotating a few whilst we sleep?”</p>
<p>Sam nods after Castiel agrees and heads out of the kitchen towards the library.</p>
<p>Dean smiles as he slips his arms around his husband’s waist from behind.</p>
<p>Castiel regards them fondly. “If Sam’s theories are correct, then I may not one day get to experience what the two of you share. Just being here could change our trajectory. I am pleased to see that some version of me is happy with Dean.”</p>
<p>“Look man, that dumbass kid in there, he’s in love with you, he’s just got to unravel a lot of knots, but there ain’t nothing that’ll change how he feels about you. Not one damn thing.”</p>
<p>Castiel looks at the pair hopeful. Sam comes back in and hands Cas a couple volumes on the lesser known angels, and various Enochian spells.</p>
<p>Sam purses his lips and looks at his brother and brother-in-law. “So, uh, we got a problem.”</p>
<p>Dean shrugs, the action causing his husband to move with him.</p>
<p>“Past you has uh, left.”</p>
<p>“Dude can’t get very far; he doesn’t have wheels.”</p>
<p>Sam’s brow furrows.</p>
<p>Dean’s eyes widen in realization.</p>
<p>“Oh, fuck no.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bringing Back Baby</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The gang looks for and finds younger Dean. Both Deans and Now Cas have a talk, and Sam is along for the ride.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank y'all so much for reading and for the kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks, and comments!! They mean the world to me. I love hearing for you guys! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!!</p><p>2009 Dean is having a difficult time in this chapter, and he is dealing with a quite a bit. He may not seem like the best person in this chapter, but I promise he will redeem himself. He is also very drunk in this chapter, which might explain some of his actions. </p><p>I do not own Supernatural, or any other TV Shows, Books, Movies, Songs, Websites, and/or Apps referenced in this tale. </p><p>Thank you so much for reading!! I would love to hear from you guys! I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last thing Dean wanted to be doing at ass o’clock in the morning was go find the younger angst-ridden version of himself. But the guy had Baby and that was unacceptable.</p><p>He looked at the angel. “Give me your phone, Cas.”</p><p>The angel narrowed his eyes at the older version of the man he yanked out of hell. “I hope you do not intend to place a call because the voice says-”</p><p>Human Cas and Dean interrupted him, speaking at the same time, “You’re almost out of minutes.”</p><p>With the same fondness Dean held in his eyes when Cas told him they had an appointment; Dean looks at his husband. The man he loved, completely, in all the gushy, annoying ways that people in Christmas Hallmark movies love each other.</p><p>Sam shakes his head fondly, so damn proud of his brother and their ex-angel. He no longer clears his throat when they stare, because he no longer feels like an intruder on their moments. In a weird way, he’s part of them. When Eileen visits, they’re a group, they go on double dates and play Pictionary. When Jack’s home, they all three slip back into the dad role. But when it’s just the three of them, they are a trio, a triangle, each angle adding to the shape’s whole. Sam also no longer has to deal with the extreme amount of unresolved sexual tension because it is no longer unresolved.</p><p>Dean turns his gaze to the angel, whose face is frozen on ‘confused.’</p><p>“No, uh, we need it to track Marty McFly.”</p><p>“I do not understand that reference.”</p><p>Dean snorts along with his brother and pats the angel affectionately on the back. He tries to actively avoid the glare he receives from his husband.</p><p>Castiel takes the phone out of his pocket and hands it to Dean. Dean flips it open and shut a few times.</p><p>“Sammy look!”</p><p>“Yeah, outdated technology, really exciting Dean.”</p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p>Cas giggles slightly as he heads out to the library, so they can look up Dean’s number on one of the laptops.</p><p>*******</p><p>“Little fucker is at a strip club!”</p><p>Sam furrows his brow at his brother. “Are you surprised? What did past you do when something got too real?”</p><p>Dean runs his hand over his face. “Yeah, women and booze.”</p><p>Castiel squints at the computer screen. “I can fly us to his location if you wish.”</p><p>Dean’s hand goes to his stomach. He hasn’t flown with an angel in quite a while. There was that stint when he was Michael’s angel condom, but he didn’t really remember the sensation.</p><p>“No, man, it’s only like an hour away and uh, younger me is probably there for the long haul. Uh, we’ll take Cas’s truck. You can fly. When you get there, stay all ‘invisible man’.”</p><p>Castiel tilts his head and Dean rolls his eyes, exasperated.</p><p>“Just don’t let him see you, but also don’t let him leave.”</p><p>“Are you insinuating I instigate violence against Dean?”</p><p>Dean’s face changes from annoyance to something else, something painful. Cas finds his hand immediately, and Dean squeezes it.</p><p>“Dean and I, we have had quite a few violent altercations over the years.”</p><p>Castiel nods, processing. “Is that…” he pauses, searching for the right word. “healthy?”</p><p>“No.” Dean emphatically declares, pulling his husband behind him to the garage.</p><p>*******</p><p>“I can’t believe that little fucker took Baby!”</p><p>Sam rolls his eyes. “Dean, in his mind, it’s his car.”</p><p>Dean turns his head quickly to his brother, practically looking through Cas, who sits in-between them.</p><p>“I’ve rebuilt her, shaped her, buffed her, more times than years that little shit has been alive.”</p><p>Cas’s face goes through a series of emotions and he finally settles on mildly confused.</p><p>“I do not intend to correct you, Dean, but he is, in fact, <em>you</em>. So, you are only insulting yourself, which I am not okay with.”</p><p>Dean regards his husband with fondness. “You… Babe, how did you put up with that for all those years? Fuck, with me?”</p><p>“I would like to express that those sentiments go both ways. I ingested the entirety of an after-world, released Leviathans, betrayed you and Sam, broke Sam’s wall, and you chose to forgive me, essentially without question.”</p><p>“He kept that fucking trench coat too. If I was unsure about the two of you before, that sealed it.”</p><p>Dean laughs slightly through his nose at his brother’s comment.</p><p>“It was straight out of Brokeback Mountain!”</p><p>“Babe, punch him lightly for me, would ya?”</p><p>Cas folded his arms in his lap. “I most certainly will not.”</p><p>Sam stuck his tongue out at his brother.</p><p>Dean laughs suddenly, prompting questioning eyebrows from his husband and brother.</p><p>“I bet if he’d known what had gone on in our car he wouldn’t have taken her.”</p><p>Cas looks down at his hands, a slight smile playing on his pale pink lips.</p><p>“Dude, gross.”</p><p>“Do not worry Sam, I used Armor-All.”</p><p>Sam didn’t even want to know what the ex-angel meant by that, and his brother’s laugh didn’t help matters.</p><p>“I am not going anywhere with the two of you without hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes ever again. And a blacklight!” Sam says all of his statement with indignation, but he is truly pleased his brother is so open and seemingly happy. He hides his smile by looking out the window.</p><p>*******</p><p>They meet Castiel at the back entrance. He appears somewhat bored. His eyes search the sky before they land on Dean.</p><p>“He is excessively intoxicated. And, he…” Castiel loses focus again, eyes drifting to a lightning bug. He stays silent as he follows its path.</p><p>Dean grabs his chin and forces his eyes to look into his own, a gesture they were both familiar with. “Whatever it is, you end up here.”</p><p>Cas sighs, a very human gesture.</p><p>“He is placing one-dollar bills into a man’s very impractical undergarment.”</p><p>“Come again?”</p><p>Castiel looks at Sam, eyes glossy. “I…” He takes a deep breath he doesn’t need. “I was prepared for fornication with women, this particular turn of events affected me more than I knew I was capable of.”</p><p>Dean rubs his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. He looks at Sam, trying to figure out the best way to diffuse the bomb that is his younger self. “What the fuck do we do, Sam?”</p><p>Sam sighs with his entire body and looks at his brother-in-law.</p><p>Dean narrows his eyes at him and shrugs in a questioning manner. Sam looks towards Cas yet again.</p><p>Dean’s eyes widen with recognition and understanding.</p><p>“Babe.” He takes his husband’s hands into his own. “Can you go get the younger, dumber version of me please?”</p><p>Cas’s face sets, his chin jutted towards Dean in a defiant manner.</p><p>Dean rolls his eyes and rephrases. “Fine. Can you please go get the younger version of me?”</p><p>Cas crosses his arms in front of him. “Not until you compliment yourself, Dean.”</p><p>Sam snickers, and Dean shoots him daggers.</p><p>“Well, an angel fell for me, so I must be pretty special, huh?”</p><p>Sam happened to look at Castiel at that moment and the expression written on the Angel’s face went straight to Sam’s gut. It was mix of softness, admiration, love, and fucking devotion. Sam swallowed, almost ashamed he witnessed something so raw.</p><p>“That was more complimentary to me, Dean.”</p><p>“Well, I’m good at that.”</p><p>“I fell for you in every way possible.”</p><p>Cas removes his hands from his husband’s grip and heads into the club.</p><p>Dean sighs and leans against the concrete of the building.</p><p>*******</p><p>Cas is surprised to see Dean sitting at a table by himself. He looks around, realizes this is an inclusive strip club, smiles to himself, and walks up to his future husband.</p><p>“Is anyone sitting here?”</p><p>“You got the detail, huh?”</p><p>Dean kicks the chair out, and Cas sits down. A waitress soon approaches him, eyes him up and down, and takes his drink order.</p><p>“Just beer please.”</p><p>His humanity made him a lightweight. He snickers as he remembers he once drank a liquor store.</p><p>“What’s so funny?”</p><p>“Ah, well, you won’t remember because it hasn’t happened yet, but, when I was an Angel, I once drank the entirety of a liquor store. You told me that I was ‘on a bender’. My tolerance has substantially decreased since then.”</p><p>The waitress comes back and places a bottle in front of Cas.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>“So, we’re not really supposed to do this, but I can offer you a discount on a private dance if you’re interested.”</p><p>Cas smiles at her, “Thank you, that is very kind. However, I think I will have to pass this evening.”</p><p>She shrugs. “Okay, I get it.” She eyes Dean, who squirms under her gaze. “Just uh, call if you need anything, kay?”</p><p>Cas nods politely as she walks off.</p><p>Dean clears his throat. “So, uh, does it ever work? Me trying to get you laid?”</p><p>Cas smiles as he drinks from his beer, he notices Dean’s eyes follow his lips.</p><p>“I do not know how to answer that. I had sex with a reaper when I was human before, and then she killed me. My experiences with sex were not entirely pleasant before…”</p><p>He trails off, trying not to anger his charge.</p><p>“Me.” Dean mutters, downing the brown liquid in front of him.</p><p>“You in ten years.” Cas corrects, taking another sip from his bottle.</p><p>Dean raises his hand to get the waitress’s attention. He orders another whiskey. She raises a quizzical eyebrow at Cas, and he nods. She takes the glass away and soon returns with another.</p><p>Even without angelic powers, Cas can tell this Dean is three sheets to the wind. He’s hoping the man will pass out now and he can drag him out of the club, and into the back of the Impala, or into his younger self’s arms.</p><p>Dean leans toward him, their legs touching. Cas is somewhat unsure of what to do. He’s afraid that if he flinches, or moves away, this Dean will run scared. He remains motionless.</p><p>“I uh…” Dean knows that his rationality is gone, he knows he is compromised by the inebriating effects of alcohol, but he doesn’t care. “There was this guy once, Lee Webb.”</p><p>Cas doesn’t break the gaze. This is information his husband hasn’t shared. He swallows, his mouth suddenly feeling like there are wads of cotton in it.</p><p>“Dean.”</p><p>“Shut up Cas. Listen you obstinate fucker.” </p><p>“I am not…”</p><p>“What, my Cas? Fuck that. You’re human, and you’re fucking gorgeous.”</p><p><em>Oh no.</em> Cas pulls out his wallet and get out two one-hundred-dollar bills. He hopes Dean’s tab is not more than that. He grabs Dean’s arm.</p><p>“Ooh, strong grip there tiger.”</p><p>“We’re leaving, and you are going to be drinking some coffee.”</p><p>“I like the getting out of here part, but coffee is not what I was thinking.”</p><p>Cas pulls him up, nods at their waitress and then the table in order to indicate that he left money. She nods, and Cas pulls him towards the back entrance.</p><p>He more or less shoves Dean out the door.</p><p>“Took you long enough, what were you doing, getting a lap dance?”</p><p>The expression on his husband’s face shut Dean up immediately. He takes the younger version of himself and shoves him against the concrete wall.</p><p>“What’d you do?”</p><p>Younger Dean laughs, his feet scrambling for purchase. “Nothing you wouldn’t do.”</p><p>Now Dean’s anger is apparent in his green eyes, and he holds his younger self tighter. “If you said anything to hurt him…”</p><p>His sentence was interrupted when an Angel touched two fingers to <em>his</em> Dean’s forehead, making sleep take him. Castiel draped the man over his shoulder.</p><p>“We will meet you back at the bunker.”</p><p>*******</p><p>“This is why I don’t like time travel; something always gets fucked up.”</p><p>Cas was sitting next to Dean in the Impala. Sam offered to drive Cas’s truck back.</p><p>Cas shrugged noncommittally.</p><p>“Talk to me, Cas.”</p><p>“Younger you began flirting with me.”</p><p>Dean nodded. “Okay…”</p><p>Cas rolled his eyes. “You, ten years ago, would never have flirted with me.”</p><p>“So, you think he’s not really me? Is that what you’re saying?”</p><p>Cas sinks down in the seat and rests his head on the window.</p><p>“I’m tired, Dean. It is not of import.”</p><p>“Fuck that, Cas. We don’t do this anymore, remember? We gave the shoving shit down up because we wanted this to work, no more secrets, no more lies. You remember that?”</p><p>“Of course, I remember. They were very unique vows.”</p><p>The both smile at each other softly.</p><p>“I believe I was hurt because I was under the impression you did not think of me like that back then. I thought what you said to Castiel in the kitchen was to console him, I didn’t really believe it was true.”</p><p>Dean nods with enlightenment. “Oh, okay. Babe, I was head over fucking heels in love with you, I just had a giant stick up my ass and was in denial. I’m not surprised he flirted with you, I kinda would’ve been surprised if he didn’t, being that fucking drunk.”</p><p>“Is that why you sent me in?”</p><p>Dean licks his bottom lip as he turned to look at his husband for a moment. “It made the most sense, Cas. Younger you wasn’t as good with words, not as gentle. Now, you uh, you could talk me off a cliff, and pretty much have, lots of times.”</p><p>“Sam?”</p><p>Dean blows air out through his mouth, “Uh, younger me left pretty much because Sammy just told him we were a thing, a serious thing, and he freaked out. So, it wasn’t really a brotherly moment. I mean of course, Sammy is supportive and younger me could see that, so having that reaffirmed wasn’t gonna help. Just like I always have, he needed you.”</p><p>Cas looks down at his hands before looking at his husband.</p><p>“Dean?”</p><p>“Yeah, Babe?”</p><p>“Younger you mentioned something while we were talking.”</p><p>Dean swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, a motion Cas followed closely with his eyes. “What?”</p><p>“Umm…” Cas hesitates, prompting a quizzical look from Dean.</p><p>“He said there was a guy.”</p><p>Cas can sense Dean tensing up, making him not want to continue.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter, Dean, we can discuss it some other time.”</p><p>“What guy, Cas?” The question was hushed, forced through gritted teeth.</p><p>“Lee Webb.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Home Sweet Bunker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Past Dean has a hangover, Castiel is confused, Sam just wants brunch, and Cas picks tomatoes. </p>
<p>Contains Spoilers for Season Fifteen!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter contains spoilers for season 15 of Supernatural, especially 15x7.</p>
<p>Thank you so, so much for reading!! Thank you all so much for the kudos, comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks! They warm my heart! I am so glad y'all are enjoying this story!</p>
<p>I want to say once more that this chapter does contain spoilers for season 15, although I added some things with the character in 15x7 that are not cannon. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dean’s face holds an unrecognizable expression, which scares Cas more than anger, horror, or even sadness. He stays silent, waiting on his husband’s response.</p>
<p>“I killed ‘em, Cas.”</p>
<p>Cas looks at his hands, he nods slowly. He wonders why the younger version of Dean deemed this particular kill important. Cas asks a question to line up the dates.</p>
<p>“When?”</p>
<p>Dean sighs, “Uh. I don’t know, man, a little over a year and a half ago, maybe a little more?”</p>
<p>Cas’s brow furrows, his mind attempting to connect the dots his present and past husband drew for him. He is unable to formulate any reasonable hypothesis.</p>
<p>“Dean, I am afraid I do not understand why the younger version of you thought it was important to mention him, especially if…”</p>
<p>His husband interrupts him. “We fooled around a bit, Cas.”</p>
<p>Cas’s eyebrows knit together, his lips purse. For the second time in a span of minutes he asks the same question:</p>
<p>“When?”</p>
<p>Dean feels tears stinging his eyes, the memory of sticking a broken pool cue through his friend making the pain resurface.</p>
<p>“Before I got Sam from Stanford to find Dad.”</p>
<p>Dean wiped his face and kept his eyes focused on the road.</p>
<p>Cas puts a reassuring hand on Dean’s thigh, but his husband doesn’t respond. Cas knows it’s because he feels that he doesn’t deserve the reassurance, the kindness. So, just like he did over a decade ago, he grips even tighter.</p>
<p>The pressure grounds Dean, and he switches the arms he’s driving with and Cas scoots to his side, Dean’s arm around him.</p>
<p>“I don’t…”</p>
<p>Cas leans his head on Dean’s shoulder. Dean kisses the top of his head, tears still escaping every now and then.</p>
<p>“You have nothing to explain to me, Dean. You had to kill someone you cared for, and you were alone, and for that, I am so, so sorry.”</p>
<p>“Seeing you helped.”</p>
<p>“Hum?”</p>
<p>“That was the day when you came back home.”</p>
<p>Cas closes his eyes, wincing. “And I was not someone you could turn to, confide in at the time, Dean I…”</p>
<p>“Babe, you had no idea. And I was the one who was a dick to you. What I said…”</p>
<p>“It is all behind us. Now, if you would like, we can talk about your friend. Maybe just the happy memories? Perhaps we can honor the person he was?”</p>
<p>“You’re not, I don’t know? Jealous, or mad or anything?”</p>
<p>“Why should I be envious of someone who quite possibly paved the way for this to be possible? I often wondered why you waited so long to act upon your attraction to me, but we always had one apocalypse after another, then betrayals. Among other various and sundry upsets.”</p>
<p>Dean finds himself smiling slightly.</p>
<p>“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”</p>
<p>“So I’ve been told. By you. On numerous occasions.”</p>
<p>Dean takes his eyes off the road momentarily to quickly kiss his husband, both still smiling.</p>
<p>Dean tells Cas about all the good times he and Lee had together, and their firsts, without being graphic and just keeping it sweet. They both laugh at Dean’s descriptions of duets sung in dingy bars, and the two hustling pool together, having an entire act down pat. By the time they get back to the Bunker’s garage, Dean is crying again.</p>
<p>Cas takes the opportunity of a parked car to hold his husband’s face in both hands.</p>
<p>“You are allowed to grieve. Simply because his story did not end with him being the good guy does not mean he was bad.”</p>
<p>Dean sinks his head onto his husband’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“I love you so fucking much, Cas.”</p>
<p>Cas plays with Dean’s hair; he kisses the top of his head and uses his other hand to rub his husband’s back with small circles.</p>
<p>“So I’ve been told.”</p>
<p>Dean chuckles slightly. He reluctantly releases himself from Cas’s hold, wipes his face with his sleeve, and goes to open the door.</p>
<p>“We should probably get in there before Sammy starts looking for us.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“Do I want to know why the two of you took ten minutes longer than me?”</p>
<p>Dean cocks a grin. “Ten minutes can do wonders Sammy.”</p>
<p>Sam looks disgusted and Cas rolls his eyes.</p>
<p>“I do hope my younger self had the forethought to put past Dean in an unoccupied room.”</p>
<p>Sam pulls his bottom lip in his mouth and scrunches his face up apologetically.</p>
<p>“Seriously?!” Dean exclaims. “Son-of-a-Bitch!”</p>
<p>“We can sleep in my old room, Dean.”</p>
<p>“But the memory foam, Cas! Your bed doesn’t remember us!”</p>
<p>Cas lowers his head and raises a solitary eyebrow at his husband.</p>
<p>Dean shrugs, a smirk playing on the corner of his mouth. “Okay, well maybe it does, a little.”</p>
<p>Sam shakes his head. “Can you uh, make that brunch casserole thing tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“Uh yeah, Sammy. I didn’t know you liked it that much.”</p>
<p>“It’s actually really good. It just has like a week’s worth of cholesterol in it. But its been a day, and uh, I don’t know, thought it’d be nice to have it tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, man, of course.”</p>
<p>“I think I have some tomatoes to go with it.”</p>
<p>Sam smiles widely at his brother-in-law. “Those heirloom ones are so good.”</p>
<p>“Are they not? The catalog was very on point with their flavor descriptors.”</p>
<p>Dean shakes his head with a fond amusement.</p>
<p>“We should probably all get some shut-eye. We have to deal with the likes of the repressed versions of us tomorrow.” Dean kisses Cas on the cheek lightly. “And Sam.”</p>
<p>“Dude.”</p>
<p>Dean grins at his brother before walking alongside Cas to Cas’s old room.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Dean wakes up slowly, agonizingly, every imaginable thing either aches, throbs, or wants to hurl. He turns his head to see a trench-coated figure staring at him.</p>
<p>“Cas, man, I just had the most fucked up series of dreams.”</p>
<p>Castiel raises a quizzical brow to the hunter.</p>
<p>“First, Zach sent me to this fucked up version of the future, then we get sent to another future that’s fucked up in a whole different way.”</p>
<p>Cas looks up at the ceiling, almost as if to ask for divine assistance. </p>
<p>“I guess I got uh, pretty wasted last night huh?”</p>
<p>“If you mean were you incredibly intoxicated, then the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.”</p>
<p>Dean attempts to roll his eyes at the angel, winces from the pain, and flinches when a bottle of aspirin lands on his stomach.</p>
<p>“The older version of you instructed me to give those to you when you woke. There is a glass of water on the nightstand.”</p>
<p>It took Dean’s normally acute mind a second to process his friend’s words.</p>
<p>“Older version…”</p>
<p>The angel makes a type of ‘hum’ that indicates an affirmative.</p>
<p>“Fuck!!”</p>
<p>Cas rolls his own eyes towards the ceiling.</p>
<p>Dean opens the bottle and shoves a handful of aspirin into his mouth and downs them painfully with the water. He sits on the edge of the bed, sipping the water and looks at his friend.</p>
<p>“I guess… I uh…I probably should apologize to older you, huh?”</p>
<p>“I do not know what transpired betwixt the two of you, Dean. I cannot advise you as far as that is concerned.”</p>
<p>Dean runs his hand through his hair and looks around him.</p>
<p>“Are we in <em>their</em> room?”</p>
<p>Cas looks around, he simply took Dean to the room they encountered when they confronted the human version of himself, he didn’t think of the implication. His eyes once more find the ceiling, embarrassment suddenly overtaking his celestial form. Without making eye contact with his charge, he answers:</p>
<p>“I suppose we are.”</p>
<p>Dean gets up suddenly, holds his stomach from the movement, and walks out the door.</p>
<p>Cas props his elbows on his knees and holds his face in his hands.  </p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Past Dean stumbles upon Sam in the library. His big sasquatch of a younger, <em>or wait is it older, </em>brother has a pot of coffee in front of him with an extra mug.</p>
<p>Dean sits down in the chair opposite his brother and pours himself a cup of the life-giving liquid. He suddenly notices a wonderful smell wafting through the bunker.</p>
<p>“Is something cooking?”</p>
<p>Sam raises his eyebrows, attention drawn away from his book on time-travel.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, Dean is making brunch.”</p>
<p>Past Dean scrunches up his face and his lips protrude in a comical fashion as he says: “Brunch?”</p>
<p>Sam stifles a laugh because it reminds him of how his brother pronounced the name of the actor that played Cas in that weird-ass alternate Universe where the supernatural didn’t exist.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you know, that meal that happens between breakfast and lunch on lazy days? And weekends sometimes? After the farmer’s market?”</p>
<p>Dean leans in towards his brother. “What happened to us, Sammy?”</p>
<p>Sam shrugs and picks up his mug. “I think we allowed ourselves to be happy, Dean.”</p>
<p>The words make the former hunter smile, truly proud of where they had gotten and what they had become.</p>
<p>Dean nods, somewhat in disbelief, but just going with it, because he had a mission when he left that room.</p>
<p>“Uh, Cas around?”</p>
<p>Sam raises an eyebrow again. “Which one?”</p>
<p>Dean makes an expression that is between a grimace and a smile. “Uh, the human one.”</p>
<p>“He’s picking some tomatoes, and pruning.”</p>
<p>“Dude, what the fuck?”</p>
<p>Sam’s expression changes from amusement to the look he had developed over the years that indicates to his brother that he is just so done with his shit.</p>
<p>“Sammy, you have perfected the bitchface, congrats, man. I’d bake you a cake to commemorate, but uh, I don’t bake.”</p>
<p>Now Dean comes into the library with a cookbook in his hands. “So uh, Sam, I’m thinking about making a tomato tart for dinner tomorrow, what do you think?”</p>
<p>He moves down the book when he hears his brother laugh and sees his own gorgeous mug staring back at him in complete disbelief.</p>
<p>Past Dean shakes his head as he stands up. “Where’s the garden?”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>Past Dean sets his face, impassive. “I gotta set a few things right. But I’m guessing you already knew that, yeah?”</p>
<p>Now Dean regards the past version of himself harshly. “Look, I get it, I do. I know us.” Dean indicates the two of them with a hand gesture. “And I know you got a lot going on with the man on that rooftop, and the angel in our room, but do not upset Cas. We’ve all been through a hell of a lot, just don’t fucking upset him.”</p>
<p>Past Dean shrugs and frowns. “You really think I would?”</p>
<p>Now Dean sighs. “If my husband comes back from doing his peaceful Zen gardening shit upset, you’re not getting any of this casserole.”</p>
<p>“I won’t piss off the nerdy ex-angel, but is that really how bad our threats have gotten, really?”</p>
<p>“Oh, it’s not bad. You smell it, and you already know what you’ll be missing out on.”</p>
<p>Past Dean rolls his eyes as he looks to Sam.</p>
<p>“I’ll uh, walk you out there.”</p>
<p>Past Dean follows Sam and shakes his head at the older version of himself going back into the kitchen with the cookbook.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Dean can feel the stare before he sees the trench coat.</p>
<p>“Hey Cas.”</p>
<p>“Hello Dean.”</p>
<p>“Past me put you through the wringer last night, huh?”</p>
<p>Dean sidesteps the angel to check the timer on the oven. He leans against the counter, arms folded.</p>
<p>The angel rests his palms on the table and faces Dean, almost mirroring his posture.</p>
<p>“As you know, we have been up against a great deal lately.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I uh, get it.”</p>
<p>“He feels that he offended the human version of myself somehow last night.”</p>
<p>Dean nods. “He uh, got a bit flirty, nothing too bad. And anyway, Cas can hold his own.”</p>
<p>Castiel narrows his eyes. “Why did we become human? Was it just for you?”</p>
<p>Dean licks his lips and stares at his shoes. He kicks one foot out slightly, then crosses them back before answering the angel. “It was a lot of things, Cas. It uh, was the only way.”</p>
<p>“To have a romantic relationship?”</p>
<p>“What? Dude, no.”</p>
<p>“I do not understand.”</p>
<p>The timer goes off and Dean pulls his casserole out of the oven.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, come to daddy, baby.”</p>
<p>Castiel tilts his head.</p>
<p>“Look at this, Cas.”</p>
<p>Castiel peers over the man’s shoulder after pushing himself off the table.</p>
<p>“It appears to be a dish meant for human consumption, not a child, Dean.”</p>
<p>Dean gives him a complete and total ‘what the ever-lovin’ fuck?’ expression.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“Hiya Cas.”</p>
<p>“Hello Dean.”</p>
<p>Cas carefully prunes the leaves off the bottom of one of his heirloom tomatoes.</p>
<p>Dean sits in one of the chairs that he thinks the older version of him placed strategically to appreciate the view that was <em>Cas</em>. He clears his throat and focuses intently on his hands.</p>
<p>“I uh… I think I owe you an apology, buddy.”</p>
<p>“Do you?”</p>
<p>Dean practically yearns to see the man’s blue eyes. He doesn’t know if it is possible or not, but this man, this Cas, seems to have skin that is tanner than his angel’s. And his shoulders seem broader, and Dean could see the muscle definition in the man’s arms and back through the t-shirt that is slightly clinging to his back. He swallows and tries to form a sentence.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I probably said some shit that made you uncomfortable last night.”</p>
<p>Cas continues pruning. “I did not understand, Dean.”</p>
<p>“I sometimes ain’t too good with my words.”</p>
<p>Cas finally turns around to look the younger version of his husband in the eyes.</p>
<p>“What were you trying to say last night, Dean?”</p>
<p>Dean squirmed under the gaze seconds ago he was longing for. His Cas wasn’t so astute or fucking forward.</p>
<p>“Did uh, older me tell you about Lee?”</p>
<p>Cas nods, “He did.”</p>
<p>Dean flushes and breaks the gaze. “You didn’t know before?”</p>
<p>“I did not.”</p>
<p>“And uh, did you care?” Dean meets Cas’s gaze once again.</p>
<p>“Of course not. I only regret it was something Dean did not feel comfortable telling me before.”</p>
<p>Dean nods, his eyes becoming dangerously glossy. <em>There must be some type of fucking pollen out here</em>.</p>
<p>“It’s different, you know?”</p>
<p>“I do not. Would you care to tell me?”</p>
<p>Dean purses his lips and looks away. “I don’t think I can today, Cas. Not right now anyway. Is that… is that okay? If maybe we uh, talk about it later?”</p>
<p>Cas smiles gently at the man he got out of hell not so long ago. “Of course. You know I always enjoy our talks, Dean.”</p>
<p>Dean sniffs and stands quickly when he sees Sam.</p>
<p>“Hey guys, uh, so Dean says that, and I quote: ‘brunch is served fuckers’.”</p>
<p>They all laugh slightly and head back inside.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading!! I would love to hear from y'all! Y'alls comments make me smile and warm my heart. :-)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. You Did What, Now?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Brunch is served, Castiel makes an ill-fated trip upstairs, a certain sugar-loving half-angel kids pops in, Cas has to make a tough decision, and Past Dean and Sam decide to go out for dinner.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading and for all of the kudos, comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks! They mean so much to me as the author of this tale and I cannot thank you all enough for them! </p>
<p>I had a great deal of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it!</p>
<p>I do not own Supernatural, or any other TV Show, Movie, Book, Song, Website, and/or App referenced in this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Castiel watches the human version of himself eat with interest. He is still in the dark as to why he chose to become human, he loved humanity and admired his Father’s creations and he was in love with Dean, but he couldn’t understand choosing the need to eat, digest, and contract or develop illnesses.</p>
<p>“Have we had a cold?”</p>
<p>“A few months ago, I have never seen a bigger baby.”</p>
<p>Cas glares at his husband. “I was not that bad, Dean.”</p>
<p>“Dude, I had to spoon feed you soup.”</p>
<p>Cas hadn’t admitted it then, and he wouldn’t admit it now, but he enjoyed having Dean care for him because the first time he was human he had to fend for himself.</p>
<p>“Yes, we have had a cold.”</p>
<p>Castiel simply hums and focuses his attention on his charge. “Aren’t you eating rapidly? Won’t you develop indigestion?”</p>
<p>“Shut up Cas.”</p>
<p>Sam looks toward the older version of his brother and shrugs. Dean returns the gesture and they finish their brunch in silence.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t we be helping Sam with finding a spell to return the younger versions of ourselves back to their time? Or perhaps deciding on whether or not to tell Castiel all the things he could change?”</p>
<p>Dean pulls his husband closer to him on the couch they bought for the Dean Cave, the recliners now sitting on either side of it, a coffee table in the middle like a proper living room.</p>
<p>“Probably. But this is more fun.”</p>
<p>Dean kisses Cas and his husband gleefully returns the gesture.</p>
<p>“Jesus! Don’t you two ever stop?!”</p>
<p>“I’m not going to quit making out with my husband because you’re uncomfortable.”</p>
<p>Cas sighs as he sits up, much to Now Dean’s chagrin.</p>
<p>“Hello Dean.”</p>
<p>“Cas is off somewhere meditating or seeking counsel or something, and I just thought that maybe you two with all your <em>experience</em> had an idea how to shove us back.”</p>
<p>Past Dean plops down in one of the recliners.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, seeking counsel?”</p>
<p>Dean becomes concerned by his husband’s sudden interest. “Babe?”</p>
<p>Past Dean shrugs. “He’s a weird little dude, I don’t know.”</p>
<p>“Pray to him, now.”</p>
<p>Now Dean would be lying if he said the demand in his husband’s voice wasn’t fucking hot, he shifts slightly in his seat.</p>
<p>Past Dean shrugs and looks up, “Cas, get your feathery ass back here because future you is freaking the fuck out, and I’m guessing that’s a bad thing.”</p>
<p>Past Dean looks back down. “Huh, guess he’s busy.” He turns his focus to the TV. “Is this the TV?” He picks the remote off the coffee table.</p>
<p>Cas rips it out of his hand and throws it across the room.</p>
<p>“Focus, Dean. Did he say anything?”</p>
<p>“No, it’s Cas, he disappears all the time.”</p>
<p>“Babe, talk to me.”</p>
<p>Cas looks back and forth and puts his head in his hands. “Counsel usually means consulting other angels.”</p>
<p>Past Dean nods with understanding. “You guys done pissed some holy rollers off, huh?”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“Hey, guys? You might want to come in here.”</p>
<p>Two Deans and one Cas got up and wondered into the War Room.</p>
<p>Sam was standing next to Jack and a slightly worse for wear Castiel. Jack had a thing of cotton candy in one hand and very slightly waved with the other. “Hello!”</p>
<p>Past Dean scrunches his eyes and regards the Nephilim. “What is that?”</p>
<p>“Our son.” Cas says as he approaches the boy, arms wide.</p>
<p>“Hey Cas.” Jack manages to hug his father without getting cotton candy on either of their shirts. He pulls a piece off and shoves it in Cas’s mouth before the man can protest. “Good huh?”</p>
<p>“Jack, it’s just sugar.”</p>
<p>“Which is why it’s so delicious.” Now Dean walks up and pulls a piece off, shoves it in his mouth and winks to spite his husband playfully.</p>
<p>“Hey kiddo.”</p>
<p>“Hi Dean. I have missed you. Heaven is, boring.”</p>
<p>Cas smirks.</p>
<p>“What the fuck is this? Did you adopt a ghost kid?”</p>
<p>Jack looks at Past Dean. “Is this what you were like before?”</p>
<p>Dean nods, “Yeah, I know, right?”</p>
<p>Sam smiles and addresses the Nephilim. “Jack, where did you find Castiel?’</p>
<p>“Oh, he was in Heaven, and the angels were not too happy.”</p>
<p>“They always seemed okay with Cas.”</p>
<p>Jack nods as he tears off another piece of his candy. “Yup. But usually Castiel didn’t come in demanding to speak to angels he killed.”</p>
<p>Cas winces and Castiel looks towards Jack. “You are a Nephilim, an abomination, in charge of Heaven?”</p>
<p>Now Dean sticks a finger in Castiel’s face. “He is Jack, and our son, and he will never be called that again. You hear me?”</p>
<p>Castiel nods. “This future is… unexpected.”</p>
<p>“You’re a rebel, Cas, what did you expect?”</p>
<p>Everyone looks at Past Dean quizzically, except for Jack who keeps eating his cotton candy.</p>
<p>“Although, I gotta say man, I’m kinda surprised you’re not the one ruling Heaven at this point.”</p>
<p>Now Dean, Cas, and Sam all look toward the ceiling.</p>
<p>Castiel turns his attention to Cas. “Did we rule Heaven?”</p>
<p>Cas falters, “We, uh…”</p>
<p>“Had a bad year.” Now Dean intercedes, pulling his husband toward the map table, where they all have a seat.</p>
<p>“So, I heard about some time-travelling angel invading Heaven and I went to investigate and found him.” Jack gestures towards Castiel, “I figured it had something to do with you guys.”</p>
<p>“They just showed up, kid. We don’t know how to send them back either. And feathers here don’t know how to zap ‘em back. So, they’re here. Yeay.”</p>
<p>Castiel furrows his brow, Past Dean scowls, Sam smirks, Cas sighs, and Jack licks his sticky fingers.</p>
<p>“If anyone can figure it out, it’s you guys.”</p>
<p>“You have to go back, Jack?” Cas always missed the presence of his son.</p>
<p>“Yes, but I told them I’m staying all of next week. I was thinking we could have a marvel marathon?”</p>
<p>“Oh, hell yeah!” Now Dean high-fives the kid.</p>
<p>Jack gives Sam a hug before he flies away.</p>
<p>Castiel furrows his brow. “He has far too much power to be a regular Nephilim.”</p>
<p>“He is the child of an archangel.”</p>
<p>“Of course he is.” Castiel leans back in his chair. “Gabriel I assume?”</p>
<p>“Sure.” Now Dean offers.</p>
<p>“So, I bake and I also have a kid, with my husband?” Past Dean scratches his temple. “Kay.” He sniffs and walks toward the room he was given.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Castiel enters the Dean cave, eyes wide. “I believe I may have come to a conclusion.”</p>
<p>Sam looks up from his book. Dean mutes the television and Cas moves his eyes lazily to his younger self.</p>
<p>Castiel sits down in the unoccupied recliner. “I believe that Zachariah’s sending Dean to a future interfered with my landing somehow.”</p>
<p>Sam leans forward in his seat. “Like an accidental power surge?”</p>
<p>“In a way, yes.”</p>
<p>Sam nods, considering. “How would we override that?”</p>
<p>“An archangel, more than likely. I assume Gabriel will be the most willing considering you have adopted his son?”</p>
<p>Now Dean’s cheeks fill up with air, Sam bites the inside of his cheek, and Cas clears his throat slightly.</p>
<p>Cas is the one to speak first. “There are no archangels left.”</p>
<p>Castiel looks to him with disbelief. “No, it is virtually impossible for an archangel to be destroyed.”</p>
<p>Dean cuts in. “Yeah, uh, so Gabe sacrificed himself to get Jack back from an alternate world, Cas exploded Raphael, like by snapping, umm… Michael one point o made it in the cage until last year then he also got exploded, but not by Cas this time. Umm… let’s see, Michael two-point o got destroyed by Jack, and oh yeah, Lucifer was killed my me. Well, by Michael two-point o hitching a ride in me until…”</p>
<p>With a swiftness that stymied everyone in the room, Castiel had Dean pinned against the wall. “You said yes? After everything?”</p>
<p>Cas scrambled up and attempted to grab the angel’s hand, but Castiel was an immovable object.</p>
<p>“Cas, no, not like that.”</p>
<p>Castiel ignored him. “I fell for you. And that was how you repay me? And I still…” His nostrils flare, and Dean actually feels a tiny bit of fear.</p>
<p>Cas can see the flicker of something in his husband’s eyes he vowed he would never put there again. He can see Sam working on the angel-banishing sigil. Cas does something no angel has ever done because it was forbidden and relatively unknown, something no human, demon, monster or ever did because they didn’t have the capacity to know.</p>
<p>Cas uses the advantage of Castiel being so preoccupied with his anger with Dean to draw an invisible Enochian sigil on Castiel’s back. He mumbles a few Enochian words, presses his palm on the angel’s shoulder blade, clenches his fist, and pulls downward. As the angel falls backward with a primordial scream, Cas puts his hand on Castiel’s forehead. “I am so, so sorry.”</p>
<p>Dean stands over the angel’s body. “Fuck babe, what’d you do?”</p>
<p>Cas hands him the black feather, the end dark blue, and flecks of silver throughout.</p>
<p>“Is this… is this one of your feathers?”</p>
<p>Cas nods.</p>
<p>Sam comes over, abandoning the sigil. “Dude, I didn’t even know that was possible.”</p>
<p>Cas looks ashamed. “It is forbidden. It was knowledge that was only shown to me when I became human. I believe the creation of a soul had something to do with it, when my grace and soul combined for but a moment.”</p>
<p>“Have you known since the fall?”</p>
<p>Cas nods at his brother-in-law.</p>
<p>“And you never used it, even when all those angels were chasing you?” Sam’s eyes soften with knowing the kindness of the man who married his brother.</p>
<p>“Of course not.”</p>
<p>“But for me, you did. To yourself.”</p>
<p>Cas looks at his husband but before either one of them can receive comfort from the other, Cas is shoved up against the wall by Past Dean.</p>
<p>“What the fuck did you do to him?”</p>
<p>Now Dean considers intervening, but then Cas changes their positions, the ex-angel pinning the younger version of his husband to the wall.</p>
<p>“How the hell? You’re human.”</p>
<p>“He works out.”</p>
<p>Past Dean gives the strangest look to Sam. “Dude, what the fuck?”</p>
<p>Sam shrugs, arms folded. “I’m his personal trainer, I’m proud, okay? Get over yourself, Dean.”</p>
<p>Now Dean smirks. “He is jacked.”</p>
<p>Past Dean rolls his eyes and looks at Cas. “What did you do to Cas?”</p>
<p>“He misunderstood a comment and lashed out physically at Dean. I have seen him bloody too often by my hand to see it again. And I know that Castiel would prevent those images from ever being in his mind if at all possible, I know I would.”</p>
<p>Cas looks into young green eyes, his arm still across Dean’s chest.</p>
<p>Dean notices his breathing becoming slightly labored, and blood going to places he <em>really</em> did not want it to go. The violence was not a big deal, he was used to getting beaten up, beating up, and being snarky about all of it. But the violence mixed with the tenderness reminded him of other things, and the man was hot as all hell. Cas was close enough to him to tell his breathing and heartrate had increased and backed off. He still had his hand on his chest, but it was tender, and kind, all heat removed.</p>
<p>“I still have some angelic knowledge. He is simply unconscious. He will wake in the morning.”</p>
<p>Past Dean cleared his throat. “Uh, okay, yeah. Can you help carry him to a room?”</p>
<p>Cas nodded.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Cas was walking back towards the kitchen was he was pulled into his and Dean’s room.</p>
<p>Dean quickly shut the door behind him and placed his palms on the door, his body surrounding his husband’s.</p>
<p>“You didn’t take care of his boner, did you?”</p>
<p>Cas rolls his eyes. “Did that typically happen whenever I had you pinned against a wall?”</p>
<p>Dean begins to kiss up and down Cas’s neck. “It was a weird thing Babe, I never knew whether to shit my pants or cream ‘em.”</p>
<p>“You kiss me with that mouth!”</p>
<p>“Oh, everywhere.” As if to demonstrate that particular point, Dean began to unbutton his husband’s shirt.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Although the rooms themselves were soundproof, if his brother and brother-in-law were basically on the door, Sam could sometimes hear some <em>noises</em> escaping through the door jam. This was one of those times.</p>
<p>Sam just shook his head with amusement as he walked past their door on his way to brew some coffee. He was surprised to see the younger version of his brother already at the table, mug in hand.</p>
<p>“I uh, made you some too, Sammy.”</p>
<p>“Umm, did you go by… uh…”</p>
<p>“Oh.” The younger version of his brother blushes furiously. “Yeah. That was uh, just about as bad as reading about myself full-frontal in Chuck’s books.”</p>
<p>Sam grimaces. Oh, Chuck.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, sorry, that goes on a lot.”</p>
<p>“Cas though? I always thought it’d be some chick if it ever happened.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, Cas, Dean.” Sam pours himself a cup and sits across from his brother.</p>
<p>“You seem really cool with it.”</p>
<p>Sam scoffs. “You are the smartest man I know, but dude, you are also unbelievably stupid.”</p>
<p>“Well, don’t hold back there, Sam.”</p>
<p>“I’ve been rooting for the two of you since the raising of Samhain.”</p>
<p>This surprises Dean, and his eyebrows reach comically toward his hairline. “What?”</p>
<p>“Dean come on. He was looking at you and you fucking licked your lips man and stared at his! I had to interrupt because I was afraid the two of you were gonna start going at it in our hotel room in front of me and Uriel.”</p>
<p>Dean looked horrified. “Dude!”</p>
<p>Sam starts laughing. “It bothered me so much. I always had to clear my throat when I came into the room and the two of you were already in there. So intense Dean. And then the whole, ‘you’re like our brother, Cas’. Uh, right, if you ever looked at my lips and licked your own I would be horrified. Like, just leave the house and never come back.”</p>
<p>Dean is not amused, but Sam continues. “Oh my God, I even wrote a fanfiction to deal with it, like an outlet. I mean I didn’t get graphic or anything because hello, brother, but I think it was a kiss after a hunt.” Sam continues laughing, ignoring his brother’s stare. “Oh my God, Claire read it at the wedding!!”</p>
<p>Sam is basically unresponsive now. Dean gets up and smacks him on the back of the head, which sobers his giant brother up. The fucker doesn’t even have the decency to apologize.</p>
<p>Dean sits back down. “You done?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, for now.” Sam gives his brother a shit-eating grin.</p>
<p>Dean suddenly realizes what Sam said, “Wait Claire, like Jimmy’s daughter, Claire?”</p>
<p>Sam nods. “Yeah. Uh, so Jimmy died after Raphael exploded him, and uh, Cas felt guilty about it a few years later, sought her out. It was kinda rough there for a while, but they got pretty close.”</p>
<p>“The dude wears her dad’s face.”</p>
<p>Sam contemplates. “It’s not that simple, Dean. Cas was brought back looking like Jimmy, but that is probably because it’s what we were used to.”</p>
<p>Dean’s eyes narrow. “Cas was brought back for us?”</p>
<p>Sam shrugs affirmatively, “Yeah, he was.”</p>
<p>“Why do we matter so much, man?”</p>
<p>Sam smiles sadly and quotes one of his favorite shows as he shrugs: “Spoilers.”</p>
<p>Sam looks at the clock in the kitchen and back at his brother. “So, uh, Dean probably isn’t going to be cooking tonight, so we can either go out or we can order pizza. Cas said Castiel won’t wake up till the morning, so we should be good there.”</p>
<p>“Uh, I think I’d like to eat somewhere my future self isn’t having super loud sex with our best friend.”</p>
<p>San nods understandingly as he stands. “You get used to it.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading!! Comments and kudos are so very much appreciated! Thank you so much again for choosing to read this tale, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Grace and Souls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cas makes a realization, Castiel shows off, Sam and Castiel have a talk about humanity, and Past Dean and Cas talk about profound bonds.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank y'all so, so much for reading, for leaving kudos, for all the wonderful comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks, y'all warm my heart. </p>
<p>This chapter is a bit more angsty than the others. It has some flashbacks. I guess it could be considered spoilers for Season 15, although the things mentions haven't actually happened, it just addresses some things that actually occurred in Season 14. I'm so sorry if that's confusing. </p>
<p>I do not own Supernatural, or any other TV Show, Movie, Book, Song, Website, and/or app mentioned in this tale. </p>
<p>Chapter Warnings: Mentions of a panic attack</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m human.”</p>
<p>Cas sits up in bed and his husband immediately pulls his body onto his own. Dean puts his hand over Cas’s heart and begins rubbing up and down.</p>
<p>“It’s okay Baby, just breathe. I’m gonna get the app.”</p>
<p>Dean scrambles for his phone with his free hand.</p>
<p>Cas leans his head against Dean’s shoulder. He takes the hand covering his heart, puts it to his lips and kisses each of his knuckles tenderly before placing it over his heart once more.</p>
<p>“No, Dean. This is not an anxiety attack. I love you for your care though.”</p>
<p>Dean puts his phone back on the nightstand and leans against the headboard, dragging Cas with him. He settles them into a comfortable position and kisses the top of his husband’s head.</p>
<p>“What’s going on then, Babe?”</p>
<p>“I think my humanity explains past you’s attraction to me.”</p>
<p>“Eh, I remember being pretty head over heels for the angel.”</p>
<p>Cas sighs thoughtfully. “But, did you think I was approachable?”</p>
<p>Dean remembers that bone crushing hug in Purgatory (the first time), receiving only a minor one back in return. Cas rarely showed his affection back then with physical touch, it was usually held in his eyes. But when Dean came back with his mom and Cas enveloped him in his strong angelic arms as if Dean were the only thing that mattered, a switch flipped and Cas was approachable, but Dean was an idiot. But of course, that was after Cas had already been a human, there was muscle memory for touch, connection. And Jack had changed Cas in ways that made Dean tear up and clear his throat if he thought about it too much. Humanity was a good look on an angel who never truly fit into the angelic mold.</p>
<p>“I…uh… would you have been?”</p>
<p>“I loved you fully from the first time my grace touched your soul, but honestly I may not have known what to do had you initiated physical touch.”</p>
<p>“But it was always different with me wasn’t it, Cas?”</p>
<p>“Different?”</p>
<p>Dean shifts, sinking once more into the bed. Cas settles easily onto his chest. “Yeah, like that night at the brothel, you were fucking terrified.”</p>
<p>Cas nods, and Dean can feel the stubble he has dreams about.</p>
<p>“But, like, when I was thinking about becoming Michael’s meat suit the first time, when you and Sammy locked me in that room. You remember that?”</p>
<p>Cas looks at him with dark blue eyes. “When you insisted on making various sexual innuendos?”</p>
<p>Dean laughs. “Yeah, then. You didn’t fucking flinch.”</p>
<p>Cas hums, the action tickling Dean’s chest lightly.</p>
<p>“I suppose I didn’t.”</p>
<p>“You would’ve done it too.”</p>
<p>“Done what?”</p>
<p>“Come in that room.”</p>
<p>Cas rolls over on his back so that his head is resting on Dean’s arm.</p>
<p>“I would’ve waited till Sam left.”</p>
<p>Dean chuckles as he rolls over onto his husband.</p>
<p>“You want to show him you were down to fuck don’t you?”</p>
<p>Dark blue eyes stare into green ones, finding their home. He places his hand on Dean’s cheek and begins to stroke the man’s stubble with his thumb.</p>
<p>“I want to show him that I always loved you, completely. Angel or not.”</p>
<p>Dean kisses him softly.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Castiel sits up suddenly in the bed, assessing his surroundings.</p>
<p>“Woah there, Buddy, you okay?”</p>
<p>Dean approaches him timidly.</p>
<p>Castiel looks at him with grace filled eyes.</p>
<p>Dean swallows, emotion rising at the warrior of God.</p>
<p>Castiel stands next to the bed, rolls his head, straightens his shoulders and stretches his wings. Electricity and heat floods the room. Dean wants to cover his eyes but he can’t look away. Castiel, in all of his angelic magnificence looks at him softly.</p>
<p>“Hello, Dean.”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Sam bursts into his brother and brother-in-law’s room, gun drawn. The bunker’s lights are flicking off and on, usually indicating a demonic or ghostly presence. His brow furrows at Dean and Cas’s languid expressions. He tucks his gun back into his waistband, shuts the door, and sits at the foot of their bed.</p>
<p>“Uh, what the hell?”</p>
<p>Cas regards the flickering lights. “Past me is stretching our wings.”</p>
<p>Cas closes his eyes and looks up, as if he can almost feel the appendages stretching, reaching their full limits before they curl back into themselves and reside on another plane.</p>
<p>Sam looks concerned. He scowls as his brother pulls a candy bar out of his nightstand and begins eating it. Dean catches his eyes and shrugs.</p>
<p>“Should we be concerned he’s gonna come smite us all?”</p>
<p>Cas smiles sadly at his brother-in-law. “Before Castiel was fully unconscious I shared some memories that would help him to understand why I took the course of action I did. I do not think we will receive anything from him but understanding.”</p>
<p>Sam nods. “So, uh, have we decided about that? What to tell him?”</p>
<p>Cas reaches over to his nightstand and pulls out a notebook. He hands it to Sam. “I began a list of sorts.” He looks down at his hands. “I understand this will be a group decision. However, I thought I should at least begin to…” Cas is unable to finish.</p>
<p>Dean grabs the notebook from Sam’s hand.</p>
<p>He opens the cover and begins reading his husband’s impeccable handwriting.</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t doubt Dean, he is stronger than any man should ever be. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Confess your love to him, make him understand how much he means to you, forget the rest of the world for just a moment. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sam is a good man. Do not allow your prejudices to override what you can see. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean will always choose Sam first, but that does not mean he does not love you. We love him because of his selflessness for Sam, that is what makes him the righteous man. Our righteous man. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>At Stull cemetery, you will be stronger. Heal Dean, get Sam. Get all of Sam. It will be difficult, and you will have to fight, but you can do it. Look for Sam’s soul, just like two years prior, it will be the brightest thing in Hell. It will call out to your grace. Not in the same way as Dean’s, but still a plea, follow it, find it, and bring it home to Dean. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Gabriel is alive. Ask him to join you in your fight against Raphael. With you, he will win. Teach the angels free-will. Instruct them, love them, show them the kindness and mercy you find in Dean. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Your path will not be easy whichever road you take. But with Dean, you will find a companion, a comrade, a friend, a partner, and a lover. Stay on the road together, and all will be fine. Never forsake Dean. Although you are a cosmic entity capable of great power, although you are millennia old, your existence begins and ends with Dean Winchester. </em>
</p>
<p>Dean looks to his husband, slack jawed, tears apparent in his eyes.</p>
<p>Cas looks at his hands. “That was not intended for your eyes.”</p>
<p>Dean grabs the back of his head and kisses him forcefully, chocolate still on his lips.</p>
<p>Sam makes a ‘really?’ face, takes the notebook from Dean’s hand, and leaves.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Sam is reading Cas’s notes for his past self, the tiniest trace of tears in his eyes, in the library when Castiel sits across from him. He regards him with that particular stare that is just so <em>Cas</em>.</p>
<p>“Hey Cas, you okay?”</p>
<p>Castiel nods solemnly.</p>
<p>Sam purses his lips, raises his eyebrows, and nods as well. “Okay, good. Uh, you wanna talk or…”</p>
<p>Castiel looks at the ceiling and folds his hands in his lap. “I wish for you to tell me why I became human.”</p>
<p>Sam clears his throat slightly and looks vainly around for his brother. “Uh… I don’t know if that’s my place.”</p>
<p>Castiel regards Sam with interest. “I do understand we are not as close as I am with your brother, but that does not mean I do not care for you, Sam.” He furrows his brow, as if he is trying to find the right words to convey his emotion that is still so new to him. “You…” He takes a deep breath he does not need to settle nerves he does not have. “You are my…” He once more hesitates, searching his infinite knowledge for the right word. “Family.”</p>
<p>Sam thinks of the words his Cas wrote in that notebook. “Thanks Cas. Uh, you are my family too. And uh, I think you were then too, I was just stupid.”</p>
<p>“You were stupid for the right reasons, though.”</p>
<p>Sam scoffs, a harsh sound to the Angel’s ears. “Yeah, well, that doesn’t make it work out in the end.”</p>
<p>Castiel offers him a sad smile, such a human gesture, so <em>Cas</em> that Sam folds.</p>
<p>“Okay, uh, we lost our son.”</p>
<p>“Jack.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, and uh, Cas made a deal to get him back.”</p>
<p>Castiel furrows his brow. “Like Dean?”</p>
<p>Sam had never really thought of that implication until right fucking now, and his heart does this weird little flip-flop. Fuck yeah, like Dean. Of course, two self-sacrificing sons of bitches would end up getting married to each other.</p>
<p>“Yeah, kinda like that. But uh, angels can’t sell souls, so he made a deal with the Empty.”</p>
<p>Castiel nods.</p>
<p>“But uh, the Empty wasn’t happy with Cas, so it told him it would only come to collect when Cas allowed himself to be happy.”</p>
<p>The blue eyes narrow and Sam feels as if he is being soul searched.</p>
<p>“After we uh, won our big battle, Jack could tell Cas was about to be happy, so he took his grace.”</p>
<p>Castiel nods once more. “Replacing it with a soul, which the Empty has no control over.”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Sam agrees, remembering the scene as if it were playing out in front of him again.</p>
<p>
  <em>“We did it. We fucking did it.” Dean stands, looking around, blood and dirt and grime covering him from head to toe. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sam lets out a laugh, a shaky thing. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jack’s eyes return to his normal blue from the gold, a smile playing across his young face. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Cas stands, immovable, blade in hand, blood dripping onto the floor and looks up, to who, Sam’s not sure. But he’s an angel, it must be habit. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean looks at him, looks at Sam, then back at Cas. Without hesitation, he grabs the lapels of the trench coat and pulls Cas into a kiss. The Angel soon reciprocates, dropping the blade and wrapping his arms around his hunter. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sam allows a laugh to escape his lips again, but this time it’s happy and doesn’t have a shake in it. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jack appears behind the trench coat imperceptibly, angel blade in hand. He rips Cas away from Dean and cuts his throat, grace being contained in a glass vial in Jack’s hand. Jack heals the wound and lowers Cas to the floor. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean eyes the kid wildly. “Jack, what the hell?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sam wanders over, and sits beside his brother and Cas, both of whom are on the floor. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jack smiles sadly. He sits with them, Cas’s grace glowing blue white in his hand. Sam sees tears threatening to escape the Nephilim’s eyes. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“The first time I died, I was in Heaven.” Jack grabs the edge of Cas’s trench coat and begins playing with it in his free hand. “The Empty wanted me. Cas told it to take him instead.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean looks at the figure of the man he loves, which is now resting in his lap. “You stupid son of a bitch.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“But the Empty said it wouldn’t take him until he allowed himself to be happy and allowed the sun to shine on his face.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sam understood the gesture of Cas looking up then, he was waiting to be taken. He thought their last battle was going to be his happiness. Knowing he and Dean were safe. He felt a bit ill. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I knew, I felt, when you grabbed him Dean, that he was happy.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“You took his grace so he would have a soul?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jack nods at Sam. “The Empty has no power over souls.” The boy shrugs and smiles like Sam had told him he could have a Milky Way after dinner. “I guess those are mine now.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jack puts his hand on Cas’s chest. “And it will always be protected. He will always be protected, my father.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Cas’s blue eyes open and he mutters in his characteristic deep voice the word that meant more in the angel’s mouth than it meant in any other context, from any other lips:  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Dean.” </em>
</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>Dean wanders up to the rooftop garden and sits in the chair he occupied a day prior. Cas is picking green beans from a trellis and placing them in a bowl.</p>
<p>“Your wings were fucking magnificent.”</p>
<p>Cas smiles, a tinge of sadness apparent in an upward tick, a type of wistfulness. “I was the best flyer in the garrison.”</p>
<p>“Is that why you got the job of me?”</p>
<p>Cas pauses his work and cocks his head to the side. He once more resumes picking the beans. “I volunteered.”</p>
<p>“I thought…” Dean lowers his voice, “God commanded it.”</p>
<p>Cas chuckles, his back still toward the green-eyed man. “I thought he had. Of course, we learned we were all simply puppets in his game.”</p>
<p>“So, why’d you do it? For the glory? Saving the righteous man?”</p>
<p>Cas laments a bean that had been infected with a type of rot. He opens the pod, removes the seeds that were not tainted, and places them on a worktable to dry. He can replant them next season.</p>
<p>“There was a type of glory associated with it, yes.”</p>
<p>“But that’s not why you did it?”</p>
<p>“I led battles in Heaven, I was not in need of glory.”</p>
<p>Dean rolls his eyes. There’s <em>his</em> angel.</p>
<p>“All right then, why?”</p>
<p>Cas smiles and turns to face him. “You offered your soul to save your brother, without hesitation. You were willing to spend eternity in hell so that Sam could live. I was an angel accused of loving humanity too much, how could I not volunteer to save the best of them?”</p>
<p>“But you were such a dick.”</p>
<p>Cas laughs. “I had many things to learn. However, my affection for you never wavered.”</p>
<p>“What about the ‘I don’t serve man, and I most certainly don’t serve you’ shit?”</p>
<p>Cas looks to the ground. “Survival instinct. But you soon overpowered that.”</p>
<p>“I’m not so great Cas.”</p>
<p>“Stand up.”</p>
<p>Dean obliged. He fumbles as Cas walks closer to him, lifting his sleeve to reveal the handprint. Cas caresses it lovingly, longingly, and Dean feels a twinge of <em>something</em>.</p>
<p>“Grab my arm, Dean, as if you were going to pull me out of somewhere.”</p>
<p>Dean grabs Cas’s bicep and tries not to focus on how damn hard it is. He looks away and tries to figure out why he just agreed to that total weird moment.</p>
<p>“Look at your hand, Dean.”</p>
<p>Dean looks, because he is just apparently doing whatever the fuck Cas tells him to. He looks at his grip and sees how his thumb curves around and grips the underside of Cas’s arm.</p>
<p>“Do you see the difference?”</p>
<p>Dean shrugs.</p>
<p>Cas moves to behind Dean, their bodies flush against one another. Dean is paralyzed, scared to move, scared any movement will give him away, he can barely breathe. Cas wraps his arm protectively around him, his hands grip Dean’s shoulders, and the hand <em>fits</em>. Perfectly fits right over the handprint Cas left on him in hell. Dean lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.</p>
<p>“You got me out like this?” He can feel Cas nod against his back. The ex-angel doesn’t let go, and Dean forgets himself and relaxes into the hold. The hold that just fucking fits. He breathes in Cas, the smell so different from his <em>Cas</em>. His Cas smells like the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. This Cas smells like lavender, freshly dug dirt, and fresh sweat. Both are equally appealing.</p>
<p>“You fought me the entire time. I tried to coax you, I told you all was well, that I was there to save you, to rescue the righteous man. I took your hand and you pulled back. You relayed to me that I should just go back home and sit on my cloud and play my harp because you didn’t deserve to be saved.”</p>
<p>Dean can feel hot tears stream down his cheeks.</p>
<p>“So, I gripped tighter. I pulled your waist, but you held firm. You thought if I returned you to your body, that Sam would once more be dead, because you made a deal and had to see it through. Sam had to be alive, it was all that mattered.”</p>
<p>Dean bows his head, one of his hands unconsciously moving to Cas’s arms.</p>
<p>“You stabbed me with the knife you had in your hand, right into my chest. I pulled it out and dissolved it, it melted into nothing, and your eyes looked around for another. I grabbed your wrists and pulled you to me. Your words spewed venom, your eyes streamed tears. You called me Cas, begged me to leave you there to rot.”</p>
<p>Dean feels a sob rip through his chest, and he leans further back into Cas.</p>
<p>“I grabbed you from behind, like this, and you stilled. You leaned into me, against me, and I knew we could leave. I stretched my wings and began to fly us out of perdition. There were hoards of hell following us, and you screamed at me to watch out. You were concerned for my safety.”</p>
<p>“There was a demon who was able to grip your ankle. I had to release one of my hands to fight him off on our ascent. My grace burned white hot whilst I smote him, and it burned the shape of my hand into your arm. When we arrived to your grave and I rebuilt your body I was unable to heal the handprint. It was seared into the very fabric of your being, into your soul.”</p>
<p>Cas continues, eyes closed, head resting on Dean’s back. “When I first held you like this, a part of the energy from your soul transferred to my grace, and my grace to your soul. Throughout the years, this is the hold I use whenever you need calm.”</p>
<p>Cas releases his hold, backs up, and Dean immediately turns cold, despite the warmness of the day. Dean looks at him, eyes wiped by the bottom of his shirt.</p>
<p>“I don’t remember any of that.”</p>
<p>Cas smiles sadly, “I didn’t want you to.”</p>
<p>“And uh… he… my Cas, he feels the same? Even though he’s all angel?”</p>
<p>Cas nods as he once more attends his beans, hoping to gather enough for dinner to accompany Dean’s tomato tart. Dean sits down once again and tries to just fucking process.</p>
<p>Now Dean stands far enough away to not be seen by his younger self and his husband. Cas had never told him any of that and seeing it from the perspective of an outsider added an element Dean couldn’t describe. It was like watching a really sappy moment on “Dr. Sexy” but Dean was the recipient of the love speech. And he was wrecked. Cas’s speech and hold wrecked him, and he missed that handprint so fucking much.</p>
<p>He thought back to all the times Cas had held him like that to calm him down, to stop him, to allow him to once more gain control over himself. Dean cries. He heads back into the bunker, completely forgetting his task of getting tomatoes and runs into his big Sasquatch of a brother with his stupid concerned fucking face.</p>
<p>“Dean, what’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Cas… Cas loves… me so… so fucking much…”</p>
<p>Sam really wished there was a camera he could look into like on “The Office”. Where he could find a sympathetic audience to share his frustration with. A million snarky comments run through his mind, a million ways to say ‘duh’. But he can’t, not with his brother’s red-rimmed eyes. Instead he pulls him in for a hug.</p>
<p>“Yeah, he does, Dean.”</p>
<p>He rubs his brother’s back up and down. He chuckles a bit.</p>
<p>“What?” Dean sobers up, wipes his eyes with his sleeves and looks at Sam.</p>
<p>Sam huffs out a very slight laugh. “Jack.”</p>
<p>Dean scrunches up his face. “Yeah?”</p>
<p>“He’s more powerful than an archangel, Dean.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!! Thank you so much!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Souls and Grace</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eileen shows up, Jack pops by, Castiel makes a realization (as does Past Dean).</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for choosing to read this tale!! Thank you so, so much for the kudos, comments, subscriptions, and bookmarks!! They mean so much to me!! </p>
<p>This chapter contains spoilers for season 15 again, but they aren't mentioned outright. </p>
<p>Instead of the dialogue used in the actual episode of 5x04, I used the dialogue from the original script.</p>
<p>I am including a link to the song used in this chapter if you all would like to listen to it!!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hello?!”</p>
<p>Sam looks up from the map table and smiles. He signs “Hello” as he goes to give his girlfriend a hug.</p>
<p>“Hey Sam.” Eileen pauses as she rubs Sam’s arms up and down. “You look tired.”</p>
<p>Sam snorts out a laugh and explains the whole ‘my brother and angel from over a decade ago randomly showed up in the bunker’ thing. Eileen, not surprisingly, understands.</p>
<p>Past Dean waltzes into the room, all swagger and youth, and smirks at Eileen.</p>
<p>“Hey.”</p>
<p>Sam nods at the younger version of his brother. “Dean, this is Eileen, my girlfriend.”</p>
<p>Dean looks impressed and smacks Sam on the back. “Well, look at you Sammy, looks like you did pretty good for yourself.”</p>
<p>Cas walks by, towel still drying his hair. Eileen looks at him, “So did you.”</p>
<p>She smiles as Cas signs “Thank you” on his way to the library.</p>
<p>Sam grimaces as he knows Dean is going to give them yet another speech on how damp towels ruin the antique stain on the wood. Cas and Sam gave him blank stares, so Dean decided to voluntarily do <em>research</em>, and demonstrate the effects of prolonged water on stained surfaces complete with samples of wood. It was like a lecture and Sam was hoping to never repeat the experience, but there was his brother-in-law, walking into the library, damp towel in hand.</p>
<p>“Cas!”</p>
<p>The former angel’s response was a wet towel thrown at his face.</p>
<p>“Thanks!”</p>
<p>Eileen laughed at him, then looked back at Past Dean.</p>
<p>“So, what do you think of your future?”</p>
<p>Dean scoffs, bows his head, and scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, it’s uh, not anything I would’ve picked out for myself, but, I don’t know, they uh, seem happy.”</p>
<p>Eileen smirks, “Yeah, we are.”</p>
<p>Castiel just had to walk into the room to hear Dean’s ‘not anything I would have picked out for myself’ and the pissy angel walks towards his older self, leaving Dean sighing.</p>
<p>“Uh-oh.” Eileen lets slip.</p>
<p>Castiel walks back in, realizing not even acknowledging another human presence was beyond rude. He stands next to Sam and begins signing.</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hello, Eileen. I apologize for not greeting you, I seem to forget myself sometimes around Dean.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“That doesn’t change.” </em>
</p>
<p>Castiel smiles very slightly, and Dean can’t seem to look away. He watches as the angel’s hands effortlessly sign, a type of freedom in his movements.</p>
<p>
  <em>“I am glad Sam has found someone human to spend his life with. Your soul is charming.” </em>
</p>
<p>Eileen stops signing for a moment to place a hand over her heart, touched by Cas’s words, purposely ignoring the ‘human’ bit.</p>
<p>
  <em>“You can see my soul?” </em>
</p>
<p>He nods. <em>“Of course. It is the first thing I see when I look at a human, their forms next.” </em></p>
<p>
  <em>“Before you, or I guess future you became human, could he see our souls?” </em>
</p>
<p>Castiel nods again, and Eileen smiles softly. <em>“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” </em></p>
<p>Jack pops in, sitting cross-legged on the map table, he had a candy apple on a stick and was taking small nibbles from it. Castiel could see the similarities between the Nephilim and Gabriel.</p>
<p>“Hello!” He offered his customary wave. Everyone smiled at him.</p>
<p>Dean and Cas wandered in from the library and they both smiled broadly at their son.</p>
<p>“Sam? Your prayer said you needed me to help, but that it was not urgent.”</p>
<p>Sam had learned he had to be very, very specific in his prayers to Jack.</p>
<p>“Dude, what’s with all the sugar?”</p>
<p>Jack tilts his head at Past Dean in a way that reminds him so much of <em>Cas</em> that he feels himself inhale a breath quickly.</p>
<p>“I like it.”</p>
<p>“But it’s like you’re a toddler or something, always with the sugar.”</p>
<p>“Well, I am only four.”</p>
<p>Past Dean makes a face that can only possibly be read as ‘what the fuck?’.</p>
<p>Castiel leans towards him. “Nephilim’s mature at a much faster rate than humans.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, no shit, Cas.”</p>
<p>Sam clears his throat and looks at Jack. “Yeah, uh, so Castiel thinks they were sent here because of an interference in his landing due to another Angel having sent Past Dean to another future. He thinks an archangel could overpower that interference and send them back.”</p>
<p>Jack shrugs and places two fingers to the Angel’s temple, his eyes golden, and Castiel’s burning blue.</p>
<p>Jack’s eyes return to their normal color, he puts his hand in his lap and turns to Sam.</p>
<p>“Castiel is here because he needs to be here.”</p>
<p>Now Dean narrows his eyes. “Uh, what do you mean, kid?”</p>
<p>Jack looks thoughtful as he takes a bite of his apple. Past Dean really wants to take it from his hands and chuck it across the room. He would get so much satisfaction from that.</p>
<p>“There was a type of interference from Zachariah. But, it didn’t send Cas here.”</p>
<p>Now Dean looks exasperated and Past Dean is turning red under the collar.</p>
<p>“Jack, can you explain that a little further so that we will know what to do?”</p>
<p>Jack looks to the man he so readily thought of as his father. “Of course.” He sighs thoughtfully. “Landing from a flight is almost instantaneous. That’s why you think of it as teleporting, Dean. But it’s not, not really. Flying for fun is much slower. Flying to get somewhere requires a set destination, a wish, or desire maybe.”</p>
<p>Sam furrows his brow. “So, Cas wanted something, and ended up here?”</p>
<p>Jack nods. “Yup.”</p>
<p>Castiel’s eyes narrow. He looks back and forth wondering what in the world he could possibly want <em>here</em>.</p>
<p>Sam sighed and nodded, running a hand through his hair. “And until we determine what that is, they’re stuck.”</p>
<p>Jack looks at the younger version of his father and smiles. “Castiel has to determine what it is, and when he does, he’ll know. And when he does, pray to me, and I’ll come and send them back.”</p>
<p>“Oh no.”</p>
<p>Jack looks at Dean quizzically.</p>
<p>Now Dean lifts a pointer finger towards his son. “Past me is right about the sweets, kid. You’re staying for dinner so you can get at least one vegetable in you.”</p>
<p>“But Dean, heaven…” Jack is interrupted by a look he knows he will not win against.</p>
<p>“Fine.”</p>
<p>Dean nodded at Jack’s acquiesce and noticed the balled-up towel on the map table. He looks back and forth from his brother and husband.</p>
<p>At the same time they both exclaim: “It’s not wood!”</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>While Cas was learning what it meant to be human, he discovered he had a penchant for country music, much to Dean’s chagrin. But, because Dean was Dean, and he was trying, he would occasionally listen to the music while they were in the kitchen cooking.</p>
<p>Cas couldn’t cook for shit, but the man’s knife skills were not lost when he transitioned to human. Dean always watched with admiration when Cas would twirl the knife before slicing. It was an unconscious movement that came from years of wielding a blade. He was slicing one of his tomatoes very carefully when he felt Dean’s tug from behind.</p>
<p>“Come on, dance with me?”</p>
<p>Cas feels his face tighten with a broad smile. He places his knife down and turns around into his husband’s embrace.</p>
<p>“You hate country music.”</p>
<p>“Eh…” Dean shakes his head back and forth slowly before smirking, “But I love you.”</p>
<p>He pulls Cas to him and toward a more open spot in the kitchen. Cas laughs and moves along with him. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNSh_DczCZE">"Must Be Doing Something Right" </a> plays on the Bluetooth speaker and Cas runs his hand up and down Dean’s arm. Dean closes his eyes as Cas lingers on the place a handprint used to be. He pulls Cas’s hand away and kisses the palm before placing it on his cheek.</p>
<p>“You loved me before I even knew you.”</p>
<p>Cas places his forehead against his husband’s, keeping his hand on his cheek. “You heard.”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>Cas moves his hand and places both of his arms around Dean’s neck. They look at each other sweetly, words being said that need not be spoken. Dean occasionally sings some of the words to Cas in his deep, honey and bourbon voice.</p>
<p>
  <em>I must be doin' something right</em>
  <em><br/>I just heard you sigh<br/>You leaned into my kiss and closed those deep blue need you eyes<br/>Don't know what I did to earn a love like this, but baby I<br/>Must be doin' something right</em>
</p>
<p>Castiel stands in the doorway to the kitchen, arms by his side. He regards his human self and looks deeply into his soul. The brightness does not surprise him, he seemed like a good person, from what Castiel had seen. What did surprise him was the brand that stood out on his soul, apparent at second glance.</p>
<p>Castiel narrowed his eyes at it, studied it. The brand was a remnant of grace, grace that must have marked him when the soul was formed, the grace an everlasting reminder of what was. Castiel knows that mark.</p>
<p>Next to him stands a young, green-eyed hunter, intent on stopping the apocalypse. A soul who had been resistant, obstinate, and stubborn from the moment he laid a hand on him in hell. A soul who didn’t feel he deserved to be saved. Castiel knew better, he had always known better. He not only saved the righteous man, he died for him, and he would a thousand times over. Dean bore that mark from his grace, when their life forces transferred and connected in hell. </p>
<p>Castiel feels an odd emotion prickle at his vessel’s eyes, and he recognizes them as tears. The soul his human self possesses is the mate to Dean Winchester’s. Castiel feels another emotion tug at his gut and rise to his throat. He allows a deep breath to escape his nostrils, and he allows the prickling water to escape.</p>
<p>Dean can feel Cas’s emotion, it presents as a type of pull deep in his chest. He watches as the older version of himself dances with his husband in their kitchen while they are cooking dinner for their kid and its all so fucking domestic and sappy and chick flicky and absolutely disgusting.</p>
<p>Only, its not disgusting in the way ghouls are disgusting. Its disgusting in the way he would joke with Sam over about some new girl Sam was crazy about. It was disgusting in a normal, <em>good</em> way. It was a ‘gross’ muttered good naturedly while walking by two people who were so obviously in love with each other they were only better and stronger together. It was disgusting in a way Dean never thought he would get to experience.</p>
<p>And now there was a fucking angel next to him crying over the sappy shit in front of him. An angel he asked another version of his future self about, “<em>Cas too</em>?” Because Cas was never just another friend, he was <em>Cas</em>, even in some fucked up version of reality where Croats were overrunning everything. He sent a human Cas in to die, to be a distraction. And this future? This future he was slow dancing with him in the kitchen. Dean swears some of that stupid angel’s stupid emotion must have transferred over to him because those tears in his eyes were not from him thank you very much.</p>
<p><em>That </em>Cas had said, <em>“I think the only thing we have left, Dean and me, is each other. If Dean says it’s time to go out in a blaze of glory, win or lose, so be it. I’m in.”</em></p>
<p>Dean looks to <em>his</em> Cas, his angel, an angel he would do anything to keep just the way he is. Okay, okay, he may have had a bit of a weird ass crush on the human version of the angel, but the guy standing next to him, had been through everything with <em>him</em>.</p>
<p>The emotion pulled stronger and he suddenly realized what Cas had meant about their soul and grace connection. He wondered…</p>
<p>Without really even thinking, because if he had he definitely wouldn’t have done it, he reaches out towards the hand he knows is just there. He finds the edges of the stupid fucking trench coat that he actually secretly loves, fingers the edges slightly, before finding a home in Castiel’s palm. The angel’s fingers freeze for just a moment, and then slowly, warmly, lace with his own. And there it is, everything.</p>
<p>The sensation travels up Dean’s arm throughout his body, and he could swear he was on fire. He slightly gasps as the warmth settles in a place just underneath his ribcage. Dean chances a glance and inhales sharply at Cas’s soft gaze and warm smile. And in that moment, Dean knows they can take on fucking anything, including the Devil. He smiles back, courage, and warmth of grace flooding every vein, artery, and sinew.</p>
<p>It was then, Castiel felt <em>it</em>.</p>
<p>Sam had just happened to be walking by when Past Dean and Past Cas took each other’s hand. He just as quickly took Eileen’s in his own. Emotion flooded his features and he breathed deeply as he continued walking to avoid full-on crying.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p>“We can go back now.”</p>
<p>Dean props himself up on his elbow and stares at the angel.</p>
<p>“How do you know? Did you accomplish your task? Or whatever?”</p>
<p>Castiel takes his hand and gently cups Dean’s cheek, causing a blush to color the hunter’s cheeks.</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>Dean lets out a chuckle as he plops back onto the bed.</p>
<p>“Seriously, Cas, me, again?”</p>
<p>“Always you, Dean. The sooner you realize that, the more smoothly this will go.”</p>
<p>“This?”</p>
<p>Cas shrugs, a motion Dean was going to educate him on more thoroughly, because it looked forced.</p>
<p>“The next sixty or so years.”</p>
<p>Dean finds himself smiling. “Oh right, cause you’re just gonna not even try to woo me, just all, now that you realized you find me attractive Dean, you are mine for fucking ever.”</p>
<p>“I do not swear. Nor do I speak in such a high decibel.”</p>
<p>Dean rolls his eyes, then rolls over to lay the upper half of his body on top of the angel. “I deserve to be wooed.”</p>
<p>Cas begins stroking his hair, and Dean kinda wishes he hadn’t said anything because this is almost too pure, too loving, and he doesn’t really know what to do with it. And oddly enough, Cas isn’t clumsy with it like Dean thought he would be. He actually was kind of looking forward to educating the angel.</p>
<p>“You deserve everything, Dean.”</p>
<p>“Fuck, Cas, you can’t just say shit like that.”</p>
<p>“Yes, I can. And I intend to. Every day for the next sixty years. And then for eternity in heaven.”</p>
<p>Dean put his head into the Angel’s stupid white dress shirt. “I like you too, man.”</p>
<p>Castiel laughs, honest to his Father laughs, causing Dean to look up at his blue eyes. “Shut up Cas.”</p>
<p>And because Cas had learned a hell of a lot in the last few hours about humanity apparently, the little fucker smirks and whispers in the sexiest, deepest voice, “Make me, Dean.”</p>
<p>Dean swallows as he climbs up further on the angel, a look of teasing and lust in his green eyes. “Okay Angel, you asked for it.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Dean runs his hand over the arm Cas has placed around his chest.</p>
<p>“What are we gonna do tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“I would suggest more of this.”</p>
<p>Dean rolls his eyes and smacks the Angel’s thigh playfully. “Well, yeah, but other than this.”</p>
<p>“We save the world.”</p>
<p>“But get Sammy first.”</p>
<p>Cas kisses the top of his head. “You have no idea how pleased I am to hear you say that, Dean.”</p>
<p>And then again, because he’s apparently just the biggest sap now, Dean’s eyes brim with tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Change</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Past Dean and Castiel read over their letters, Jack sends them back to 2009, and changes are made - sort of.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you all so much for the love you have given this fic. Y'alls comments have made me smile and tear up from their kindness. Y'alls kudos have made me feel as if this fic brought joy, which I hope it has. I cannot thank you all enough for taking this journey with me. Thank you, so so much to each and every one of you. I appreciate y'all so much. </p><p>I do not own Supernatural, or any other TV show, Book, Movie, Song, Website, and/or app referenced in this tale. </p><p>I hope you all enjoy this last chapter!! Thank you so, so much for choosing to read this story!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Timing is everything.”</p><p>Past Dean and Castiel narrow their eyes at Sam.</p><p>Sam sighs and nods, his lips pursed. He looks towards Eileen and smiles slightly, sadly, before he continues.</p><p>“Yeah, uh…” He swallows, and Eileen pats his hand reassuringly. “We decided to give you a list of things you guys should know.”</p><p>“So, what? We can right all your wrongs?”</p><p>Now Dean scowls at his past self. He points a finger at Past Dean’s chest. “Look, you got that now…” He motions towards Castiel. “I’m pretty sure you feel like you can take on fucking anything, and you’re not wrong.”</p><p>Cas squeezes his husband’s thigh.</p><p>Past Dean looks at the table and licks his bottom lip before once more looking up and nodding slightly. “Yeah, alright. But Sammy here doesn’t seem too happy about it.”</p><p>Sam furrows his brow. “No, Dean, it’s uh…” He pauses and Eileen continues for him.</p><p>“He’s worried that if you guys go back and alter things, it’ll change our timeline.”</p><p>Castiel nods, “And Sam wouldn’t have the pleasure of meeting you.”</p><p>Past Dean looks at his now-boyfriend (he guesses, that’s how this works right?), with astonishment. <em>Pleasure</em>? When the hell did Castiel, Angel of the Lord, become <em>smooth?</em></p><p>Eileen nods solemnly. “But, we discussed it, and we have the chance here to save a lot of lives, and we have to take it.”</p><p>Past Dean looks as tears fill Cas’s eyes. <em>Oh fuck</em>.</p><p>“Cas?”</p><p>“I am fine, Dean.”</p><p>“No, man. Look, we’ll keep everything the same if you get to keep your kid.”</p><p>Cas’s eyes look toward the ceiling, tears escaping them. Dean pulls his chair towards his and puts his arm around his husband.</p><p>“Like Eileen said, younger me, we weighed all the options.”</p><p>Castiel looks to Past Dean. “Dean, this was not an easy decision for them, and I believe we should adhere to their wishes.”</p><p>“But their kid, Cas!”</p><p>“Never being born is not the same as dying.”</p><p>“Fuck that! He’s family!”</p><p>Jack pops in, sitting cross-legged on the table in front of them. He is eating a bowl of Cookie Crisp.</p><p>“It’s true, Dean. If this changes the timeline, Cas and Dean will never know I ever existed.” He shrugs as he brings another spoonful to his mouth. “We all talked about it. It’s okay.”</p><p>Dean and Cas look at their son with such pride that Past Dean definitely had not just developed a lump in his throat.</p><p>Sam nods as he slides a piece of paper to Castiel and one to Dean.</p><p>Castiel opens his and Dean reads it over his shoulder.</p><ul>
<li>Cas
<ul>
<li>Do not let go of Dean for anything or anyone. Always go to him for advice, counsel, help, and everything else. Your existence begins and ends with him.</li>
<li>Do not trust Crowley. (I know, just do not, please.)</li>
<li>Gabriel is alive. Ask for his assistance in defeating Raphael.</li>
<li>No deals. Your life will at times seem unbearable, your existence is infinite, but you will persevere.</li>
<li>Help those in need without hesitation. You are an angel, be what humanity believes you to be.</li>
<li>Find Amelia and Claire and tell Amelia that her husband is in Heaven and will not be coming back. Answer their prayers and be kind.</li>
<li>Do not open Purgatory. That does not end well.</li>
<li>You are powerful, but not all powerful. Be who Dean believes you to be.</li>
<li>Protect humanity, love them, and love Dean.</li>
<li>Admire Sam for the wonderful man he is.</li>
<li>After Stull cemetery, you will go and find Sam, all of Sam. Search for the brightest soul, and there he will be.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Dean
<ul>
<li>THE COLT DOES NOT KILL THE DEVIL, so don’t go on any stupid suicide mission, there’s no point. Sammy will stop the devil. Let him.</li>
<li>Don’t leave. No matter how bad it gets, just don’t fucking leave.</li>
<li>I will say some shitty stuff sometimes, but don’t think I don’t love you, ‘cause I do, as much as I can.</li>
<li>I have a big problem with anger, but you make it better, always have. When I get too mad and you’re worried I’ll hurt myself or do something stupid, hold me like you did when you flew us out of hell.</li>
<li>Remind me to drink water and coffee sometimes.</li>
<li>Don’t give up on me, man. I’ll act like I don’t think I deserve you, and it’ll come out in some bad ways, but don’t give up.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sam
<ul>
<li>When I was younger, your opinion meant a lot to me. I felt as if you were an emissary of Heaven, of God, and your acceptance meant a great deal to me. Please take that into consideration when the younger version of me joins you when you go back.</li>
<li>You are my brother. I love you. I will do some stupid things but try to be understanding.</li>
<li>Love my brother as he deserves to be loved. He will get on your last nerve from time to time, but do not ever abandon him.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul><p>Castiel refolds the letter and nods once as he places it inside his coat.</p><p>“I’m sorry, the Colt doesn’t ice the Devil?”</p><p>Dean shrugs at his younger self. “Nope. Right between the eyes, didn’t blink.”</p><p>“Then how the fuck do we win?”</p><p>“You read how.”</p><p>“Oh, fuck no. Not Sammy. You let Sammy do that? What happens to us, man?”</p><p>Now Dean’s eyes fill with venom. Cas takes hold of his hand and intervenes.</p><p>“Sam is a strong man. I believe you were occasionally blinded by your big brother role when it came to Sam, and you unintentionally doubted his abilities. Sam single-handedly stopped the apocalypse. It was an unpleasant decision, but we supported him. He beat the Devil.”</p><p>Sam looks at his brother-in-law with soft eyes. “Thanks, Cas.”</p><p>Cas smiles at him.</p><p>Dean mutters under his breath as he opens his letter.</p><ul>
<li>Dean
<ul>
<li>If Cas ignores his letter, which he might because Cas, don’t let him leave because of some type of fucked up sense of pride. He’s it for you, don’t fuck it up.</li>
<li>THE COLT DOES NOT ICE THE DEVIL, in case you decide to not be a nosy prick and read Cas’s letter. Who am I kidding? You probably read it before you read this.</li>
<li>DON’T LET CROWLEY TALK YOU INTO GETTING THE MARK OF CAIN. (I know, just, don’t.)</li>
<li>Family is everything, revenge isn’t.</li>
<li>Don’t be a dick. 😊</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Cas
<ul>
<li>I will attempt to write this without becoming too ‘sappy’ since my husband is currently looking over my shoulder. I believe you have some insecurities where my angelic nature is concerned. I must tell you in every way I possibly can, I loved you from the moment I met you and fell in love with you more every day since. When my vessel became solely my own, and no soul inhabited it, I felt everything much more intently than I was ever meant to. One of those feelings was my love for you. It was confusing at first, and I had no one with which to discuss those feelings, so I may have seemed standoffish or ‘odd’ at times. I am infinitely happy your Castiel has your love, because I believe that is all he will need. You two will change the world together, side-by-side with Sam, and it will be for its betterment. Fare thee well my future love.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sam
<ul>
<li>We’re gonna have some pretty epic fights over the years, but we always come back together, because we’re brothers. But we are more than just blood. We are like one third of a pie – me, you, and Cas. Just, uh, don’t let either of us go man.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul><p>Past Dean sniffs, rubs his face, nods, and folds up his letter before raising slightly in his chair to put it in his back-jean pocket.</p><p>“Ready?” Jack inquires happily as he finishes drinking the milk from his bowl.</p><p>Past Dean looks to Castiel and raises an eyebrow. “How about it, Angel?”</p><p>Castiel smiles very slightly and nods.</p><p>*******</p><p>Timing is everything.</p><p>It was important that Castiel and Dean landed on that street corner after they arrived back from the future. It was a continuation, as if their encounter with their future selves didn’t even happen, but it did. Instead of Dean putting a hand on Cas’s shoulder this time, he pulled him into a hug with a kiss planted on the angel’s forehead. Then, they went to get Sam.</p><p>It was meaningful when Cas immediately went to Hell after Sam did.</p><p>
  <em>Castiel looks around the South Dakota house, Sam by his side. He hears Dean clomping down the stairs with a pace that can be described as harried. He immediately hugs Sam, then forcefully kisses Cas. Cas’s fingers run through Dean’s beard. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It took me quite a long to find him, Dean, I am so, so sorry my love.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>In response, Dean pulls him closer. “It was only a month for me Cas, I know it was a decade for you and Sammy.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas whispers in his boyfriend’s ear: “He does not remember, Dean. I erased his memory.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean buries his face into Cas’s neck and lets silent tears fall.</em>
</p><p>Timing was significant when the trio met a quirky red head named Charlie while they were working a case. They were trying to go undercover in a Harry Potter chatroom, and even though Sam knew <em>a lot</em>, they didn’t know enough to fool Charlie. She became their little sister pretty quickly.</p><p>It was vital when they summoned Gabriel and asked for his help in fighting Raphael. Cas had to leave Dean for six months then, in order to assist Gabriel in Heaven and teach angels about free will which is much like teaching poetry to a fish. Dean would occasionally send up prayers, some of which made Cas blush and Gabe chuckle.</p><p>Timing was a central factor in the trio discovering a very special key in the possession of their time-travelling grandfather. Abaddon was a knight of hell, sure, but she was still no match for a full-powered archangel that the group just so happened to have on supernatural speed dial. Dean immediately nestled into the bunker that he had knowledge of from his own time-travelling adventures. He and Cas decorated their room sparsely at first, each unsure of how long they would stay there, but soon it became completely and totally <em>them</em>. Led Zeppelin records cover one of the walls, where they are intermingled with classic country records.</p><p>Timing was of the utmost importance when a certain bar owner and a very particular salvage yard owner decided they were meant for each other. Jo and Dean’s wedding toasts were epic, the music was loud and nonstop, and everyone in attendance wanted to dance with the Angel, but Dean staked his claim as best he could, smiling when Cas was awkward with everyone but him.</p><p>
  <em>“You know there are other people here you could look at, Dean.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean takes a swig of his beer and looks at his brother, whose rosy cheeks suggest he has had one too many and will be feeling it in the morning. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Eh, not nearly anyone with as fine an ass though.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Gross.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>With a chuckle, and a warm feeling in his gut, Dean goes back to staring at his angel. </em>
</p><p>It made a significant difference when Dean pretended that Baby stalled in the middle of a state highway, causing Cas to push her to the side of the road. Dean only realized after he had left the car in park.</p><p>
  <em>“Uh, looks like we might be stuck out here awhile. I can’t really see under the hood well enough to fix her.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“We can call Sam, Dean.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Naw man, he’s on that date with the waitress from that diner by the house, we can just wait it out.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean goes to the trunk and pulls out a picnic basket and a blanket. He wanders through the field, confused angel following behind him. Dean spreads the blanket carefully, hands shaking slightly. Cas helps him flatten the fabric, and follows suit when Dean lays down. Dean snuggles into the crook of Cas’s arm and looks up into the sky. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“See any you recognize?” Dean can feel the angel’s smirk at his question. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hum… we are very familiar with one another.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“All of them?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Of course.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did you guys play like volleyball or something with them?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“More like skee-ball.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean chuckles. “You are such an ass, Cas.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas hums in amusement. “And you are perfect, Dean.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean clears his throat. “Yeah, uh, on that note…” He sits up and reaches into a pocket on the inside of his flannel jacket. He pulls out a small box and fiddles with it in his hands nervously. Cas props himself up on his elbow and looks into Dean’s handsome face. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Dean?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Fuck, Cas. Look, they made this thing legal a little bit ago, and I don’t know, I just thought that we could… Fuck.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas sits up and puts a hand on each of Dean’s knees. “It’s only me.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Right.” Dean looks into the angel’s eyes and finds his home. His nerves all but disappear. He opens the box and points it towards Cas. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I love you Castiel, Angel of the Lord. I think I want to take you up on that next sixty or so years thing, plus an afterlife, if uh, you’re still game.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas smiles broadly before taking Dean’s face in his hands. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I have been in existence since the beginning, but I knew nothing of life, of love, until I met you, Dean Winchester. You set my grace alight. I only fear eternity is not long enough.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean closes the mere inches and kisses Cas tenderly. “Is that a yes?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He can feel Cas’s smile against his own. “Would you like it in other languages?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Such a snarky son-of-a-bitch.” </em>
</p><p>Timing was imperative when Sam bumped into Eileen Leahy on a typical hunt. He tried to ignore his brother and his brother’s fiancée when they shared knowing smirks. They hit it off immediately and their trio often became a quartet.</p><p>It was pretty pertinent when Bobby and Ellen Singer decided they would host Dean and Cas’s wedding at the Roadhouse. Bobby insisted he was the one who would marry them because no one else made sense, idjits. Sam stood beside Dean and Gabriel stood next to Cas.</p><p>
  <em>Gabriel stood, his glass in his hand, and half the room groaned. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I want to congratulate my brother for finally getting the stick out of his ass.” He winked at Dean, who turned crimson and drank the remaining champagne in his glass in one gulp. “He’d wanted to tap that ass since he dragged it out of hell. Congrats little bro!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sam patted the archangel’s shoulder placatingly, and Gabe sat down. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>***</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey bitches!” Charlie announces from the DJ stand. “It’s time for the grooms’ first dance. This one was requested by Dean.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas narrows his eyes at Dean, unsure of what is about to play. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Must be Doing Something Right” comes from the speakers, and Cas looks to his husband with tear-filled eyes. Dean shrugs and holds out his hand for his husband to take. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You remembered?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Pretty big moment for me, Cas. Kinda made me realize I was in love with you.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas buries his head in his husband’s neck, tears flowing freely. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>***</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh my gosh, this party is awesome.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean chuckles slightly as Jo plops next to him. She looks at Dean’s left hand. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You know Bobby worked real hard on those.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean looks at her questioningly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“The rings. He made them for you and Cas. They’re supposed to represent you and Cas. The metal is from Angel blades, melted by hell fire. Something about how your bond was stronger than hell itself. I almost puked.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean got up from his seat and went to find his surrogate father. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Whoa boy, I got vital organs in there.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean’s grip tightened. “Hell fire, Bobby?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The older man sighed. “Yeah, Crowley is an evil son-of-a-bitch but turns out an archangel can persuade almost anything.” </em>
</p><p>Timing played a major role in the bringing of a Nephilim to the door of Dean and Cas’s bedroom in the early Fall.</p><p>
  <em>“Hey.” Gabe nods as he shoves a toddler into his little brother’s hands. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What is this?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“A kid, Cas? Duh?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean stumbles over to the trio and wraps his arms around Cas’s waist from behind. He puts his chin on Cas’s shoulder and looks into the golden light brown eyes of the child in Cas’s arms. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’s cute.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gabe smiles, “She’s yours.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas’s face becomes deadpan. “Gabriel…” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, okay, she’s mine, Nephilim, whatever. Just, look, I know you two will love her and I’ll pop in from time to time to offer guidance.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas and Dean’s brows furrow. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Or just, you know, so she doesn’t think she has a deadbeat Dad or whatever, but, you two need to raise her.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dean shrugs. “Okay.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Cas sighs contentedly and relaxes into his husband’s hold. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gabe smiles and flies away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mary.” Cas and Dean say simultaneously. </em>
</p><p>It was of the essence when a young man who was in advanced placement graduated with his PhD from Princeton and asked his girlfriend to marry him with the ring his dad used to propose to his mom.</p><p>Timing was critical when Dean and Castiel Winchester placed a flower crown on their daughter’s head so she could be the flower girl for her Uncle’s wedding. She smiled and winked at them as she skipped down the aisle, Dean and Cas following behind. Dean and Cas stood beside Sam, they watched his face as Eileen made her way down the aisle, tears pooling in hazel eyes. They took one another’s hands and smiled softly at one another, the promise of everything held in their eyes.</p><p>*******</p><p>“Timing is everything.”</p><p>Dean rolls his eyes at his brother.</p><p>“Do, you want to ruin the surprise, Dean?”</p><p>Sam waits until the clock says exactly “5:00” before he picks up the cake and carries it to the map room.</p><p>“Jack… we uh…”</p><p>Jack pops into the midst of a crowd. Eileen, Jody, Donna, Patience, Kaia, Claire, Rowena, Cas, Dean, and Sam are all standing around in a circle with him in the middle. They all shout “Happy Birthday”. He looks at his cake and sees a “5” candle in the middle. His eyes brim with tears and he looks at everyone around him.</p><p>“Thank you very much.”</p><p>Cas comes over to him to wrap his arms around his son. “Happy Birthday Jack. We love you.”</p><p>The evening is spent with movies, food, and conversation.</p><p>Dean and Cas look at one another gently over the head of their son who sits in-between them. Dean stares into the eyes of his husband and gratefully realizes words he said long ago were not taken literally.</p><p>He has this because he and an angel both made a change.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so, so much for reading!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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